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HARVARD
COLLEGE
LIBRARY
aSKETCHES
OF
t /
CHINA;
PARTLY DURING AN INLAND JOURNEY OF FOUR MONTHS,
BETWEEN
PEKING, NANKING, AND CANTON;
WITH
NOTICES AND OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO THE
PRESENT WAR.
By JOHN FRANCIS ^AVIS, Esq., F.R.S., &c.
LaXe His Majesty's Chi^ Superintmdent in China,
■ ■■ '\
/
/
ulrh
Lf'' y VOL^^II.//
LONDON:
CHARLES KNIGHT & Co., LUDGATE STREET.
1841. ^,
HARVARD COLLEGE LIRHary
FROM THE LIBRARt OF
W. KJRKPATRICK BRICC
JULY 26. 1927
LONDON :
Printed by William Clowxs and Sons*
Stamford Street.
CONTENTS OF VOL. II,
CHAPTER XI.
Gardens of the emperor at Kwa-chow — Golden Island-
restraints of Chinese courtiers — military exercises — enter
the Yang-tse-keang — ^lofty salt-jnnks — approach to Nan-
king — visit from the viceroy — high rank of a Kinchae
proved— description of Nanking — its uninhahited area
like that of modem Rome — departure — the emperor a
slave to ceremony — his licence in private — breadth and
depth of the Keang — town of Ho-chow — singular hill of
Se-ieang-shan — ^town of Woohoo-hien — tallow-tree— slow
progress •..••• P^e 1
CHAPTER XII.
Tea-plantations — temple on a height — clumsy and timid
sailors — city of Ganking-foo — shops and their contents —
deserted areas of some city walls — ^fatal accident — a
soldier's funeral — Little Orphan Hill — Province of
Keangstf — storm, and chance of shipwreck — quit the
Yang-Ue-keang — ^iU vast size — Poyang Lake — city of
Nankemg-foo — its antiquity — Leuskan mountains —
Chinese verses on them — Anchorite priests — Hall of
Confucius — Vale of the White Deer — cro« the lake —
commercial town of Woochin • • . » p. 33
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
Emperor's birthday — city of Nanchang-foo—^hAUge of
boats — ^Porcelain — ^nine Chinese bottles from Egyptian
tombs— examined — a conflagration — military degrees —
paraUel with civil — cricket-match in the centre of China
— Asiatic inertness — examinations of literary candidates
— amoral instruction — ^popular maxims and sayings p. 66
CHAPTER XIV.
Peculiar boats on the Kankeang — difficult navigation —
symptoms of jealous precaution — merely local — town of
FTon^anAien —hall of ancestors — mountain scenery —
white camellia — eighteen rapids — scraping a channel for
boats — city of Kanchowfoo — ^bamboo water-wheels —
halt at Nanganfoo — preparations for land journey — cross
the Mei'ling pass — Chinese repast — increased military —
reach Canton province • • • • p. 101
CHAPTER XV.
Prepare to quit Nanheung-foo — ^notice of the Meaoutse —
their independence — kill a Chinese general — account of
Chinese victory — defeated by Meaoutse— end of war —
progress through wooded country — arrival at Chaouchow-
foo — deeper river and larger boats — different behaviour
of people — rock of Kwdnyin — narrow pass in river —
town of Tsing yuen hien — commencement of flat country
— approach Canton — arrive there— reflections . p. 133
\
CONTENTS. VU
CHAPTER XVI.
Canton and its neigli1)ourliood — harbours outside — difficul-
ties of blockade — Bogue forts — river — city walls — Macao
— held from Chinese — described — a Chinese governor —
as well as Portuguese — population — chiefly Chinese —
English and other Europeans — resident by Chinese order
— Portuguese embassies — Saldanha — Metello — Sampayo
— French ship Amphitrite — ^piracies of Portuguese — their
ambassador put to death . • • . . p. 164
CHAPTER XVII.
Chusan— described in 1101 — ^island of Pooto— of Kin-t&n
— advantages of Chusan — visits to, at diflFerent periods —
Gutzlafl^'s three voyages — first in a junk — Shanghae —
Tsoong-ming — the Peiho — Tien-tsin — Chapoo — Amoy —
Chinese trade with Formosa — supplies of rice — Chinchew
— Fochowfoo — best position for tea- trade . . p. 195
CHAPTER XVIII.
Invasion of Burmese empire — Retreat of Chinese cut off —
Entirely defeated by Burmese — Survivors made slaves —
Religious inviolability of northern frontier — Military sys-
tem and wars of the Chinese — Fortified places — Assist-
ance of Europeans — Conquest by Manchows — Caused by
internal division — Shorter reign of Mongols — Chinese
navy — Structure of junks — Fights with Ladrones — Pre-
sent circumstances favourable to their revival . p. 229
Vm CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
Miscalculations of Lin — Arrival of armament — Blockade of
Canton — Chusan attacked and taken — Deserted by in-
habitants — Canton mandarins elated by impimity —
Arrival of the admiral — Letter refused at Amoy — Attack
on unarmed boat — Chastised by the Blonde — Letter re-
fused at Ningpo — Mr. Stanton seized at Macao — Chi-
nese beaten at the barrier — Admiral visits the Peiho —
Reception, and return to the south — Mortality at Chusan
—Chinese make numerous prisoners — Prospects of nego-
ciation considered . . . . .p. 260
SKETCHES
OF
CHINA.
CHAPTER XI.
Gkurdens of the emperor at Kwa-chow — Golden Island —
restraints of Chinese courtiers — ^military exercises — enter
the Yangtsekeang — ^lofty salt-junks — approach to Nan-
king — visit from the viceroy — high rank of a Kinchae
proved— <iescription of Nanking — its uniuhahited area
like that of modem Rome — departure — the emperor a
slave to ceremony — his license in private — breadth and
depth of the Keang — ^town of Ho-chow — singular hill of
Se-leang-shan — ^town of JVoohoo-hien — ^tallow tree — slow
progress.
We left the neighbourhood of the " lofty and
bright temple" at an early hour on the 14th
October, but very soon, stopped on account of
the wind being foul, at the distance of only half
a mile from the great river, which the boatmen
would not venture to encounter under these
VOL. II. B
2 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
adverse circumstances. Near to our place of
anchorage was the old town of Kwa-chow, the
terminus of that portion of the canal which we
had journeyed over, and seated exactly at its
junction with the Keang. This place may at
some future day become famous by our war
steamers, or smaller vessels of war, sailing up
to it from the mouth of the great river, to
blockade the imperial canal.
At a short distance up the canal we had left
behind us the Woo yuen^ or " five gardens,"
which had been many years ago the temporary
residence of the emperor Kien loong, when he
visited the more southern provinces of his em-
pire, and especially the cities Soo-chow and
Hang-chow. Soon after our arrival at the an-
chorage, our chief military conductor, Wong
Tqjin, a mandarin of high rank, and decorated
with a red ball on his cap, with much willing-
ness and civility accompanied the ambassador
and a large party of us to view these celebrated
gardens. The ground which they covered was
far from extensive, but by the usual intricacies
and tricks of Chinese gardening, an artificial
EMPEROR^S 6ARDEN8 AT KWA-CHOW. 3
appearance of extent was given with the help
of winding walks among pavilions, bridges,
rocks, and groves ; the whole being embellished
with the addition of a piece of water, in which
was situated a little island.
We were shown the room, or rather the
open pavilion, in which this master of three
hundred millions had dined ; and on an upright
slab of black marble was engraved the fac-simile
of some verses in the imperial handwriting
surrounded with a rich border of dragons.
Like almost everything of the kind that we
had seen in the country, this once decorated
abode was in a sad state of dilapidation and
ruin, and calculated to produce no other emo-
tions than those of melancholy.
After breakfast (for the previous excursion
was in the very earliest part of the morning),
our obliging military mandarin walked with us
to the point where the canal joins the Yang^
tsekeang, along the shore of which we pro-
ceeded in the direction of the stream, until we
obtained a near view of the celebrated Kin-
shan, or " golden isle," a beautiful island in the
b2
4 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
middle of the river, covered with Budhist tem-
ples and places of worship, amidst which a very
handsome PaoutU, or pagoda, was the most
conspicuous object
This picturesque place is celebrated all over
China, and we were fortunate to have such a
view of it, as our course up the Keang, in the op-
posite direction, prevented our passing it on the
journey. The priests of Budha always contrive
to fix their temples and pagodas in the most
advantageous and beautiful spots, and no doubt
find it politic to do so, as they in this manner
become the haunts of travellers and curious
people, who perform a willing pilgrimage to
the shrines which they contain. From the
great breadth of the river, which at this place
is not less than two miles across, the islet was
at a considerable distance from us, but we
would willingly have crossed to inspect it had
not the mandarin made so many difficulties that
the point was given up.
On our return we passed by the legate's boat,
and the ambassador with his whole partj^ was
civilly invited by him to walk in and take some
RESTRAINTS OF CHINESE COURTIERS. 5
tea. The conversation turned upon the re-
straint which the Chinese officers of govern-
ment suffer in their movements from place to
place. Kwong told us that when at Peking
he could not go the distance of twenty miles
without special leave from the emperor. He
gave to the youngest of our party, a boy of
fourteen, a very pretty embroidered purse.
This, he observed, was Kea-tso, " made by the
females of his family," and he added that it
would be improper in him to present such a
thing to any older person, according to Chinese
notions of fitness. Soon after returning to my
boat, I received a box of tea from him ; this
was of the fine green kind, named JLoongtsing,
of which we had partaken in his barge, and
consisted of the young leaf-buds of the green
tea plant, at Canton called " hyson pekoe" for
that reason. Being but slightly fired in the
manufacture, it very soon suffers from damp,
and is accordingly less fitted to keep than any
other tea.
On the following day, as the wind still con-
tinued unfavourable, we went to take another
6 SKETCHES OP CHINA.
view of the golden island, which, with its pa-
goda, and the ornamental roofs of its temples
and other buildings, looked like a fairy creation
rising out of the silvery expanse of the Keang.
Two more days of contrary wind succeeded,
and were occupied in exploring the half deserted
town of Kwa-^how, whose name signifies " the
island of gourds,** being completely insulated
by the river and canal. We took a long walk
along the top of the walls, which were as usual
of great thickness, and afforded a broad level
platform behind the parapet : the parapet itself,
about six feet high, did not in thickness exceed
the length of a brick and a half, and the em-
brasures were evidently not constructed for
cannon, being much too high. A very con-
siderable portion of the area within the walls
consisted of burial-grounds planted with cy-
press ; and this alone was a sufficient proof of
the decayed condition of the place, as in modem
or fully inhabited cities no person can be buried
within the walls. Almost every spot bore
traces of ruin, and there appeared to be but
one good street in the whole town ; this, how-
MIUTART EXERCISES. 7
ever, was full of shops, and as busy as Chinese
streets always are.
Our friend, Wong Taj in, the military man-
darin, in consequence of a wish expressed by
the ambassador, very civilly caused a small
party of his Chinese soldiers to go through
certain evolutions in firing and shooting with
the bow. The archers were not so skilful as
might have been expected, from the trained
troops of a nation whose chief weapon has
always been the arrow ; but they contrived to
hit the target at about forty yards. The
matchlock men did quite as well as we antici-
pated. They shot in rapid succession, and kept
up a sort of running fire round a man who
stood with a flag in the centre, and served as
a pivot to the rest.
On the 18th of the month, as there still
appeared to be no chance of moving, I set out
with a party to explore the neighbourhood, and
we made a circuit of nearly ten miles before
returning to our boats. On first reaching the
nearest gate of the town, with the intention of
crossing through it to the opposite side, it
8 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
proved to be shut; but having discovered a
narrow pathway by a canal which passed under
an arch in the wall, we made no scruple to
enter. Having proceeded a few hundred yards,
a number of Chinese appeared with a mandarin
at their head, who civilly but earnestly dis-
suaded us from going any further within the
town. This sudden start of jealousy and cau-
tion was rather surprising, as on the preceding
day every one had entered the town with full
liberty. The mystery, however, was cleared up
by an edict of the emperor, which had just
arrived, and of which we procured a copy soon
after. This strange and characteristic docu-
ment was worded as follows, and the caution
concerning our rambles explained the adven-
ture above mentioned. After commenting on
the occurrences at Yuenmingyuen, and blaming
the conduct of Duke Ho, as the cause of the
embassy's departure, the emperor proceeds to
say —
" I, considering that the said nation had sent
a tribute of sincere and entire devotedness from
beyond a vast ocean at the distance of thou-
EDICT OF THE EMPEROR. V^
sands of miles^ could not bear to reject alto-
gether their expressions of veneration and
obedience; hence I transmitted my pleasure,
requiring that the most trifling articles of
tribute should be presented, and the kindness
of receiving them conferred. They consisted
of maps, painted portraits, and prints — three
classes of objects.* At the same time I con-
ferred upon the king of the said country ^joo-y
of white jade, sapphire court beads, and purses
of different sizes, to manifest an example of
' giving much and taking little.' The ambas-
sador received them at Tungchow with extreme
joy and gratitude, and also rather showed by
his manner contrition and fear.f
" Of late within the province of Pe-che-ly
he has walked about very peaceably and quietly.
Hereafter, when he shall enter the limits of
the Keang provinces, let the viceroy enjoin on
* Setting the insolence of this document aside, there was
good taste in selecting those among the intended presents
which were not of the greatest intrinsic value.
t This is the emperor's account of the transaction at
page 161, vol. i., and a specimen of the truth to be expected
in negotiation.
b3
10 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
all the officers who conduct the embassy to be-
have with the civilities due to an ambassador.
TTiey must not allow themselves to treat him
with insult or contempt.
" The ambassador will arrive shortly at the
fore-mentioned boundaries. The three pro-
vinces, Keangsoo, Ganhoey, and Keang^sy are
^nder the control of the appropriate viceroy.
Let that viceroy communicate information to
the several deputy-governors of those provinces.
When the embassy enters his limits, let him
select civil and military officers, who must take
under their command soldiers and police to
conduct everything safely. Do not catise the
persons of the embassy to land and create dis'
turbance.
•' Through the whole route let the military
all have their armour fresh and shining, and
their weapons disposed in a commanding man-
ner, to maintain an attitude formidable and
majestic. The said nation came with the in-
tention of oflfering tribute ; still treat it with
civility, and cause it silently to feel gratitude
and awe ; then the right principles of soothing
and controlling will be acted on.**
EDICT OF THE EMPEROR. 1 1
There was nothing remarkable in this, as a
Chinese paper, on the score of arrogance ; but
the falsehoods were most gross. The direc-
tions to the viceroy, requiring that the soldiers
should make their most formidable appearance,
in order that we might be overcome by feelings
of awe, rather showed that his majesty had
some apprehensions of the future. A proposal
had once been made that a letter should be
written by the ambassador, thanking the em-
peror for the favours we had experienced en
route ; but this would undoubtedly have been
one of the most impolitic measures in the
world, and quite inconsistent with the general
aspect of silent reserve that had hitherto been
maintained. Knowing, as the emperor must,
that in dismissing the mission from Peking
with such insult and precipitation, he did a
thing grossly unjustifiable, it was likely that
feelings either of justice or apprehension might
incline him to repair the act. Had we sent
him an abject address, he would inevitably have
taken it for granted that we were perfectly
satisfied with the treatment we had received.
12 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
and really felt that fear and awe which his
majesty so ignorantly imputed to us.
At length our long stay in the neighbourr
hood of Kwa-choWy where we had exhausted
the various objects of curiosity, was concluded
by a light though favourable breeze which
sprung up early on the morning of the 19th
October, and we found ourselves launched on
the Yang-tse-keangy " the son of the sea."
After sailing for some time nearly due west,
we came to a large island, dividing the river
into two nearly equal streams, of which we
took the northernmost. As there was a pretty
strong stream running against our squadron,
and but a light wind in our favour, the track-
ers and rowers had a very hard day's work of
it ; our departure from Kwa-chow having been
hurried, by the fears of our conductors, under
rather unpropitious circumstances.
The dull uniformity of the great island
which we were passing on the left, covered as
it was with reeds and high grass, was relieved
by some lofty and picturesque mountains to
the south-west. Our whole day's progress did
LOFTY SALT-JUNKS. 13
not amount to twenty miles, and we anchored
at a place near the town of Y-ching-Hien^ dis-
tinguished by a pagoda. The most remarkable
objects that struck us here were some enor-
mously large salt-junks of a very singular
shape, approaching to a crescent, with sterns
at least thirty feet above the water, and bows
that were two-thirds of that height. They had
" bright sides," that is, were varnished over the
natural wood without painting, a very common
style in China.
After waiting a whole day for a favourable
wind to stem the stream of the Yang-tse-
keang, the breeze freshened on the 20th in our
favour, and we steered for the middle of the
river, where our whole squadron of boats made
way at the rate of four or five miles an hour.
The great number of vessels in full sail scat-
tered over the broad expanse of that fine river,
had an animating eflfect. We were informed
that on the following day we should be close
to the ancient city of Nanking, and that the
viceroy of the two Keang provinces would
meet our embassy. This mandarin's hostile
14 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
feelings to the English, when governor of
Canton, led us to expect very little from him in
the way of civility.
Early on the morning of the 2l8t we found
ourselves anchored on the shore to our left,
near a high rock, and at seven o^clock the vice-
roy arrived at the boat of the legate. The
latter was observed to advance some way out
to meet him, but he was in his undress ; while
the viceroy wore his habit of ceremony, like
an inferior calling on his superior. Had we
needed any further proof, this was conclusive
that any mandarin bearing a special commis-
sion from the emperor, and entitled a Kinchae,
takes rank of every other, and that the grade
of the ball on the cap has nothing to do in
such cases.
Some presents of provisions and sweetmeats
afterwards came for the ambassador, commis-
sioners, and suite ; upon which various articles
were returned on the part of the embassy.
An attempt was made to send back these with
a sort of joking message from the viceroy ; but
as the rejection of presents was an act of rude-
FORMS OF CEREMONY. 15
ness quite inadmissible according to Chinese
notions, a message was instantly returned by the
ambassador to say, that if those thdngs were not
received, the viceroy's presents should be sent
back in like manner; which had the proper
eflfect*
His lordship sent his card to the viceroy,
which according to the caprice of Chinese
etiquette was immediately returned, implying
that the person so honoured is unworthy to
retain it. A message, however, accompanied
this to the effect that, the wind having just
sprung up fair for our boats, he would not
detain the embassy with a visit. The plea was
nothing but an es^cuse for his want of civility
in not exchanging visits with his lordship,
whom it was plain he did not wish to meet.
While the Chinese were carrying on their
ceremonial forms, we were not altogether
without ours. This being the anniversary of
the battle of Trafalgar, the marines of the
guard, a very fine body of picked men, were
turned out to be inspected by the ambassador.
This military demonstration produced an
16 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
amazing commotion among our Cliinese friends.
The whole fry of mandarins, great and small,
were on the qui vive, and bustled down to the
scene of action. The city of Nanking seemed
in danger, and general Wong himself hurried,
in considerable perturbation, to ask the reason
of so unusual an event. Great astonishment was
depicted on the countenances of the whole party
as the men marched past in double Gleyfulgenr
tibus armis.
Our boats were anchored at the foot of a high
rock, called " Yen-tse Shan^ or the " swallow's
promontory," from the top of which we obtained
a very pretty view of the surrounding country
and the course of the river, which was here
divided into two streams by a low reedy island
of considerable extent, opposite to which our
squadron had stopped. When the review of
the guard was concluded, we left our anchor-
age, and proceeded along a very picturesque
part of the river until about six o'clock in the
evening, when we reached the suburbs of the
outer wall of Nanking on the north side.
An unusually long line of soldiers was drawn
CHINESE ARMOUR. 17
out, dressed in their armour, or petticoat of
cloth studded with brass buttons, which is
probably intended to resist arrows, for it cer-
tainly would resist nothing else. They pro-
duced a good theatrical effect, with something
of the starch stiffness of the old pictures of
men in armour. The only part of their dress
that could really be called by that name was
the long conical helmet of iron, with a spear
at the point, and a tuft of red horsehair.
As the wind continued unfavourable, a party
of us set out early on the 22nd to explore
iTrithin the walls of the ancient capital of
China, and we met with no opposition, not-
withstanding the late edict from Peking.
The comparative liberty which we subse-
quently enjoyed was to be attributed to the
firmness of the ambassador, in resisting an
attempt to shut the gates upon him as he was
entering them this day, during a walk on
store ; and we were glad to observe a marked
improvement in the behaviour of our con-
ductors, as the consequence of this little ad-
venture.
18 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
On entering within the wall, we walked to
the top of a very high hill, from whence we
could plainly see at a distance the inhabited
part of the city and the famous porcelain tower,
which, however, is porcelain in nothing but
the tiles with which it is faced. ITie larger
portion of the area within the wall, though no
doubt thickly inhabited when this was the
residence of the emperor, is now a mere waste,
or laid out in gardens of vegetables, with
occasional clumps of trees. The space enclosed
is more irregular in shape than almost any
other city of China, no doubt owing to the
inequality of the surface ; as the northern part,
where we were^ is composed in a great measure
of lofty hills.
In the small proportion which the inhabited
part bears to the whole area of the ancient
walls, Nanking bears a striking resemblance
to modem Rome ; though the walls of Nanking
are not only much higher, but more extensive,
being about twenty miles in circuit. The «/n-
peopled areas of both these ancient cities are
alike, in as far as they consist of hills, and
DESCRIPTION OF NANKINO. 19
remains of paved roads, and scattered culti-
vation ; but the gigantic masses of ruin which
distinguish modern Rome are wanting in
Nanking, since nothing in Chinese architec-
ture is lasting, except the walls of their cities.
As I stood at Rome on the Coelian mount in
1837, the resemblance of its deserted hills
(setting apart the black masses of ruin) to
those of Nanking struck me at once, bounded
as they are in both instances by an old wall.
The modern town of Nanking covers less
than a half of the immense enceinte of its walls,
and being at the southern extremity of the
long-shaped plan on which these are built,
was the furthest removed from us, who were
at the northern. In the course of our stay,
some of the party walked as far as the modem
city without interruption, but were deterred
from entering by the immense crowds which
came pouring out to view the strangers.
The suburb on the outside of the gate- nearest
to our boats was well built and populous.
Two large temples particularly deserved our
notice. One of these^ the handsomest I had
20 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
ever seen in China^ contained three huge
bronze vases or censers of really elegant forms
and fine workmanship. Round the rims of
these were inscriptions, showing that they had
been made in the reign of Hoonghy of the
Ming dynasty, and presented to the temple
by the person who travelled over a large por-
tion of India with the purpose of inviting the
different nations to send .tribute.
Nanking is not precisely situated on the
Keang, but about three EngUsh miles from it,
though a communication exists with the south
of the city by a canal. All the ancient palaces,
observatories, temples, and sepulchres were
destroyed by the Tartars. The existing city,
however fallen from its former state, is as
large and populous as most other provincial
capitals, and forms the residence of the first
viceroy of the empire, the governor-general of
the two Keang provinces. It is celebrated as
a seat of Chinese learning, and sends more
members to the imperial college of Peking
than any other city. The books, the paper,
and the printing of Nanking are celebrated
DEPARTURE FROM NANKING. 21
tlirough the country as being unrivalled. The
best Chinese (called by us Indian) ink is
manufactured, not here, but at another city of
the same province, named Hoey^how fooy and
the moulds in which the finer kind is cast, or
dried, are made to assume every possible shape.
A box of these, elegantly fitted up with silk,
forms a very pretty present. The silks, the
teas, and various other products of this pro-
vince render it the most valuable part of the
whole empire ; and its climate is excellent.
The famous pirate, who so long possessed the
island of Formosa in the early period of the
present Tartar dynasty, sailed up to Nanking,
which he besieged.
We were detained in this neighbourhood,
much against the will of the legate, by a con-
trary wind, which, though not violent, pre-
vented them from attempting to stem the
stream of the Keang. On the morning of the
24th of October, the wind being rather more fa-
vorable, we set sail from the suburbs of Nanking,
but had not proceeded above seven or eight
miles before we were brought up at the side of
22 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
a large island covered with tall grass and reeds^
as much as eighteen feet high, which the Chi-
nese were cutting down for fuel, or for re-
pairing the banks of the canal. Here we were
again detained, and probably came thus far only
because the legate thought we were too near to
the ancient city.
In our progress to this spot we were at one
time more close to the city itself than at our
last anchorage. The porcelain pagoda was very
conspicuous; I counted seven out of its nine
stories above the roofs of a temple to which it
appears to be contiguous. The canal, which
leads from the great river to the inhabited part
of the city, could easily be traced as far as the
walls, and is probably one of the chief causes of
this portion of Nanking having retained its po-
pulation while the rest is abandoned. I walked
to the other end of our island, where the stream
again unites with the main river. We were told
that the whole of these reedy tracts are flooded
in the spring. Small portions are divided out,
and let to persons who cut down the reeds and
sell them for fuel and other purposes. The
THE EMPEROR A SLAVE TO CEREMONY. 23
produce of this farming goes to the govern-
ment.
The legate paid a long visit to his excellency,
and proved more loquacious than usual. He
entered into a detail of all the restraints im-
posed by his high station upon the emperor
while in public — a detail which proved that
the autocrat of so many millions was not to be
envied. He cannot even lean back on his seat,
nor use a fan to cool himself, like all his sub-
jects of both sexes ; and is sometimes subjected
to these painful demands of ceremony for a
whole day. I once obtained from Padre Serra,
a Catholic priest, who had passed many years in
the neighbourhood of the palace, a particular ac-
count of the daily habits of Keaking, the father
of the present reigning emperor (1840). When
the public ceremonies were over, he retired to
play on instruments and sing with his comedi-
ans, thus displaying a curious contrast between
his private and his state demeanour. After this
he sometimes drank to intoxication, and at night
proceeded with some of his players, masked,
to the seraglio. These things excited a re-
24 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
monstrance from the faithful minister and cen-
sor, Soong Tcyin, who was only disgraced for
his interference.
We were in motion on the morning of the
26th, with a fairer prospect of getting on than
since we had entered the Keang. Hereabouts
the magnificent stream appeared in its fuU di-
mensions, and asserted its claim to be the third
river in the whole world, after the Amazons
and the Mississippi. The breadth was fully
three miles, or perhaps nearer four, and as the
river is much narrower than this at Kwa-chow,
or the entrance of the canal lower down the
stream, it is reasonable to conclude that from
that point to its mouth the depth must be very
great. Indeed it is a common Chinese saying,
that the " Keang has no bottom," which is a
mere escaggeration of its great depth.
We observed considerable plantations of the
common cotton shrub, but looked in vain for
the brown cotton, of which the Nankeen is
made, and which is quite a different plant.
The wind on the 27th was so unfavorable that
it forced us to stop about four miles from Ho-
TOWN OF HO-CHOW. 25
chow, whicK lay at that distance from the shore
to our right, but with a navigable stream con-
ducting to the main river. So well do the
Chinese understand the value of water-com-
munication, and so singularly is the whole
country provided with it by the two great
rivers and their tributaries, that scarcely any
town of consequence is without a river or canal.
While the wind detained us here, a party of
us set out to explore the town of Ho-chow,
to which the road conducted along the hank
of the stream before mentioned. The town
was surrounded with walls in pretty good re-
pair, and appeared populous. It had several
Pae-lows, or honorary gateways ; but these
looked old and ruinous, and seemed to indicate
that the place had seen better days. On the
return to the boats, one of the party bargained
with an old woman for a milch goat, for which
he gave her two dollars ; and the conveying
the animal to her new destination proved a
source of some fun to the natives as weU as
ourselves.
We left the vicinity of Ho-chow early on the
VOL. II. c
I
J
26 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
29th, but the wind was too light, and too far
to the southward to admit of much progress.
Our unfortunate boatmen were obliged to ap-
proach the shore, and to pole us along against
the stream with immense toil. Their joy must
have been great when about three o'clock the
wind shifted to easterly, and carried us along
very fast- To estimate duly the advantages of
steam-vessels, it is necessary to have crawled
along the banks of Chinese rivers by poling and
tracking.
Our boat and that of the. legate being a-head
of the fleet, we arrived early in the evening at
Se-leang Shan, a remarkably steep hill, which
forms with a corresponding elevation on the
opposite shore, named Tung-leang Shan, the
Gades of the Yangtsekeang, as implied by
the names, " eastern and western Pillar hills."
We had time to ascend the romantic rock be-
fore it was dark. The sides were nearly per-
pendicular, and the ascent to the top by stone
steps, in a zig-zag approach. About halfway
up was a temple with images ; and on the
sides we observed sentences which had been
TOWN OF WOOHOO HIEN. Si/
inscribed in large characters by visitors of tbe
place.
From tte top of the rock, a height of nearly
five hundred feet, we obtained a fine view of the
course of the Keang flowing between two lines
of mountains, as well as of the town below,
which was well built and paved, and seemed to
owe its existence to the celebrity of the rock as
a resort for visitors. The legate had mentioned
this place to Lord Amherst as well worth his
seeing ; but no other boats being up before dark,
our party alone obtained a sight of it, for we
were all away again by daylight.
The strength of the stream, and the want
of wind obliged us at mid-day to stop only
about ten miles from our last halting-place, at
a very considerable town called Woohoo Hien,
the largest of its class in China. The streets
proved on inspection to be superior to those of
many of the first class cities ; and some were
as large and as well furnished with handsome
shops as at Canton- It is to the great inland
commerce carried on by this town that such
I unusual wealth and prosperity is to be referred.
1 c2
SKETCHES OF CHINA.
We obsCTved. for the first time, bales of cloth
with the East India Company's mark upon
th«n. These had evidently made their way
inland to this place, a distance of about six
hundred railes from Canton, without being
opened, and with the security of the stamp
affixed to them.
We first made our way to a pagoda on the
summit of a hill about two miles distant, and
met with several temples in our route, one of
which was dedicated to Kxodn-ty, the tutelary
Mars of China, worshipped by the military.
The temple attached t<5 the pagoda was, as
usual, of the Budhist religion, and contained
the triad of Fo, with the attendant saints and
divinities. On our return we entered the city
at one of its principal gates, and walked straight
through it to our boats. The shops of por-
celain were particularly handsome and well-
stocked, in consequence of its vicinity to the
chief places of manufacture in the adjoining
province of Keangsy, which we were now ap-
proaching.
We proceeded on the 31st, with a north-west
TEIH KEANG.
29
wind, and contrived to make considerable pro-
gress, until, at a pliice where our course branctied
off from the main stream of the Keang, the
clumsiness of the steersman ran our boat
abound on the lee bank, and we remained
there for half an hour, while all the boats
passed us in succession. At eight o'clock in
the evening we reached a place called Teik
Keang, about one hundred ly from our last
halting-place, being thirty miles, an unusual
day's journey in our slow mode of travelling.
The houses here were many of them built into
the river on piles, either for the sake of gaining
space, or for the convenience of embarkation.
The change of season was strongly indicated by
the thermometer, which fell to nearly fifty in
our boats, as well as by immense flights of wild-
geese, which really darkened the sky as they
were shifting their quarters to a southern cli-
mate.
The emperor's desire to get rid of us by the
shortest road was the fortunate occasion of our
navigating this portion of the Yangtsekeang
between the canal and the Poyang lake, in-
30 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
stead of following Lord Macartney's route along
the remainder of the canal. After travelling
through the swamps of Shantung ^ and the
north of Keangndn, we were now in a climate
and country which could yield to none in the
whole world, and was equalled by very few.
Here we met with English trees and plants
in abundance, as the oak, the green-holly, wild
pinks, violets, and the common bramble or
blackberry, &c. The landscape, consisting of
the finest combination of hill and dale, with
very high mountains in the distance, was va-
riegated in the most beautiful manner with the
red and yellow tints of autumn.
The brightest of all were exhibited in the
changing foliage of the tallow-tree, which was
here observed for the first time, being grown
in great plenty for the sake of its berries, the
seed of which is surrounded by a vegetable
grease that has just the consistence of tallow,
and is used for the same purposes. The clus-
ters of the milk-white berry, contrasted with
the bright red foliage, had a particular fine
effect. The country near us was richly cul-
SLOW PROGRESS.
81
tivated with buckwheat, and a variety of cu-
linary vegetables.
His imperial majesty's wish to hasten the
progress of his English visitors was grievously
frustrated by the obstinate contrariety of the
winds, which at this time generally blow pretty
strong from the northward, but which ever
since our entry into the Keang had baffled our
progress in such a manner, that we were now
only half way to the Poyang lake from Nan-
king, after the lapse of about a fortnight. No-
thing however could surpass the fineness of
the weather, or the beauty and interest of the
country ; and we had now established a system
of rambling excursions in which our Chinese
conductors silently acquiesced, seeing it was
better to do so quietly ; and finding, perhaps,
by experience, that the wild beasts were not
quite so mischievous as they had given them
credit for.
As early as nine o'clock in the morning of the
2nd of November, we were surprised to find the
whole fleet come to an anchor at a considerable
town called Tung-ling Hien, with the general
32 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
understanding that we were to pass the whole
day here. My party, as usual, set off on a
ramble through the town into the country on
the opposite side. In the course of an hour,
however, the wind became fair, and the boats
prepared to sail. Not knowing of this, we
walked on without any thought of returning,
until we had extended our excursion to about
two hours, when some Chinese soldiers came
hallooing and announcing the departure of the
fleet. Some of our own people presently came
up in search of us, and our party did not reach
the boats until half-past one, after a walk of
at least twelve miles.
33
CHAPTER XIL
Tea plantations — temple on a height — clumsy and timid
sailors — city of Ganking-foo — ^shops and their contents —
deserted areas of some city walls — ^fatal accident — a
soldier's funeral — Little Orphan Hill — Province of
Keangsy — storm, and chance of shipwreck — quit the
Yang'tse-keang — ^its vast size — Poyang Lake — city of
Nankang-foo — its antiquity — Leushan mountains —
Chinese verses on them — Anchorite priests — Hall of
Confucius — Vale of the White Deer — cross the lake —
commercial town of Woochin,
On the morning of the third of November we
found ourselves anchored at a village called
Ta-tung-chiny well furnished with shops, and
supplied abundantly with provisions of all
kinds. The wind being southerly, with a
strong stream against us, no possibility ap-
peared of our continuing the journey for the
present; and we took advantage of the delay,
as usual, to explore the country in the neigh-
bourhood. Having soon made our way through
the town, which was on the south-eastern side
c3
34 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
of the river, we entered on the open country,
m all its beautiful features closely resembling
that of Tung-ling Hien, with some very high
hills at the distance of several miles.
The country people expressed by their looks
the utmost surprise at the sight of such strange
and unexpected visitors; but their behaviour
was quiet and respectful, and, if we required
assistance or information, always obliging.
These long walks were a never-failing source
of amusement as well as health, during our
frequent halts on account of the wind. The
day following our arrival at Ta-tung-chin, the
excursion extended to a circuit of about twelve
miles, towards the foot of the high ridge of
hills lying between us and Tung-ling Hien.
On the third day of our sojourn we left the
boats at one o'clock in the afternoon, and were
not back until near seven, having g(jne over
a space of at least fifteen or sixteen miles.
The course was at first along a regular path-
way from the town, partly paved with broad
stones, until we reached a village at the foot
of the high hills which it was intended to
TEA PLANTATIONS. 35
ascend. In our way we came, for the first
time, to some small tea plantations, being now
within the latitudes in which the shrub
flourishes. The quantity cultivated was still
inconsiderable, compared with the vast tracts
of country covered with the tea-plant in the
south-eastern parts of Keang^ndrty and in Che-
keang and Fchkien provinces.
In the same valley we discovered a new and
curious species of oak, unknown to our na-
turalists, and likewise observed that the mul-
berry was extensively cultivated. On ascend-
ing one of the lofty hills of the range, a very
fine prospect was afforded of the surrounding
country and the course of the river. The
whole surface of these picturesque mountains
was covered with a vast variety of shrubs and
plants, many of the latter aromatic, and
among the rest the wild thyme very abundant,
It was the Chinese Hymettus, but the weather
was too cold for bees.
On the 5th November we were still at our
anchorage near the town, on the south-eastern
bank of the Keang, and lying close to the
86 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
dirtiest portion of the peopled district. A
remonstrance addressed to the legate on the
part of the ambassador succeeded in effecting
the removal of our boats to the opjiosite side
of the river, where we anchored at one of
the large islands that so fretjuently divide the
waters of the great Keang. The situation was
close to a range of trees, extending to a consi-
derable distance, and partly concealing the well-
cultivated fields of kitchen herbs which lay
behind, and looked beautifully fresh and green.
Until early on the morning of the 6th it
rained very hard ; and our discomfort was com-
pleted by the discovery that our boat leaked in
all parts of the roof, thus exemplifying the
Chinese notion of accumulated miseries, which
they express by the phrase, " a leaky house on
a rainy night." In the afternoon the weather
cleared up, and a party of us crossed over from
our island to the opposite shore, walking along
the side of the river towards Tung~ling Hien.
At the distance of about four miles from our
anchorage, we reached the bottom of a high
hill, and ascended a long flight of steps, ter-
TEMPLE ON A HEIGHT.
37
minating in a temple at the very summit. The
Chinese seem to have a double motive for
placing their religious edifices in such elevated
situations. The seclusion and retirement of
such sites is an obvious reason for their being
selected ; and to this may be added the pic-
turesque and romantic character which is
thereby given to the buildings, joined to the
merit of overcoming difficulties in transporting
the materials to such unusual heights. The
wind became fair for us in the evening, but
we did not take advantage of it.
On the morning of the 7th it blew
strong from the north-east, and we set sail as
early as five o'clock. Never before had we
gone so fast on the Keang, for before one
o'clock we arrived at Woo-sha Kea, distant
one hundred ly iTomTa-tung-chin. The name
of this place signifies " Black-sand bntnch," —
kea meaning any part of a river where the
stream divides into two, to compass an island
in the middle. As we were about to enter
again on the main stream at this point, our
Chinese conductors thought it necessary to
38 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
remain until the wind moderated, conceiving
it too dangerous to proceed along the open
breadth of the Keang while it blew so fresh.
Nothing was more surprising to me than
the difference between the Chinese sailors of
Canton and their " longshore " brethren of the
Yang-tse Keang, who in their clumsiness and
timidity answer to the descriptions of the
Greek mariners on the Euxine. The boats
were almost as different as the boatmen; for
while the Canton vessels are strongly built and
capable of buffeting with the waves, the great
square boxes, clamped with iron at the corners,
in which we were at present embarked, seemed
really to justify the apprehension Df their
conductors. This extraordinary difference may
partly be ascribed to the habit of sailing on
the sea, to which the Canton Chinese are
accustomed, and partly, perhaps, to the exam-
ple of Europeans at that place.
As soon as the boats came to an anchor
at the island, we crossed over to the south
bank of the river, and took a long circuitous
ramble through the beautiful undulating coun-
CLUMSY AND TIMID SAILORS.
try, of which the hills were planted with fine
timber of various kinds, including the oak
and a species of sycamore, while the valleys
seemed cultivated with rice, buckwheat, and
the ginger plant. A husbandman, who was
breaking the clods of earth on newly-ploughed
land by means of a harrow, stood erect upon
the machine to add weight to it, and thus
guided the bufialo.
8th November. — The wind being too strong
for our clumsy craft and lubberly sailors to
proceed on the voyage, we passed our time
in examining and exploring the large island at
which the squadron was anchored. This was so
extensive as to occupy the greater portion of the
day in performing the circuit. The scattered
farm-houses argued considerable comfort on
the part of the inhabitants, who were farmers
cultivating the different patches laid out in
rice, cotton, and grain, notwithstanding that
the low level of the island exposed it frequently
to inundation — which, however, would agree
very well with the rice, however unfriendly to
other products. Our party were interested in
40
SKETCHES OF CHINA.
observing the formalities of n funeral at one of
the fann-houses, the Chinese mourning colour
(white) being displayed by the relations and
mourners, with the attendance of Budhist
priests, and music of a harsh sound. The tem-
perature was cold for such a latitude (30^ degrees)
in the month of November — the thermometer
within our boats descended to 54 degrees.
Early on the morning of the 9th we left
Woo-sha-kea with a light fair breeze, and made
very good progress during the day (about one
hundred ly), reaching our anchorage on the
further or western side of the city of Gart'
king Foo about four o'clock in the evening.
This is a large and important town, the capital
of the southern division of Keang-ndn province,
and the residence of a Foo-yuen. On approach-
ing the eastern suburb of the city, we |)erceived
a very long single rank of soldiers, in their
petticoat armour, drawn out to the number of
nearly five hundred. With their helmets, flags,
and other appurtenances they made, as usual,
a good theatrical show ; and against Chinese
rebels or robbers were probably invincible.
CITY OF GANKING-FOO.
41
Having admired these gentry, we made our
boatmen approach the shore, and sallied forth
to explore the city, whicli we entered at the
eastern gate, nearest the water, and proceeded
directly through the town, in a westerly direc-
tion, to meet our boats at their anchorage
beyond the western suburb. The streets were
as narrow as I had ever seen them in a Chinese
city, nor were the shops very splendid ; but
many good dwelling-houses presented them-
selves — or rather their courts and gateways,
for no gentleman's house in China ever adjoins
the street.
The fooyuen's or governor's palace we at first
took for a temple, but were soon undeceived by
die inscriptions on the huge lanterns at each
side of the gateway in front of the great open
court. These official residences seldom display
any magnificence. The pride of a Chinese
mandarin of rank consists in his power and
: station ; and as the display of mere wealth
attracts little respect, it is neglected more
, than in any country of the world. On
t particular family festivals, as marriages, fune-
42 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
rals, and the like, considerable sums are
expended.
The best shops that we saw were those
for the sale "of horn lanterns and porcelain.
They possess the art of softening horn by the
application of a very high degree of moist heat,
and extending it into thin laminae of any
shape, either flat or globular. The lamps
constructed of this substance are about as trans-
parent as ground glass, and ornamented with
silken hangings, which give them a handsome
effect.
The porcelain in the shops was of the finest
kind, arguing our gradual approach to the
neighbourhood where it is produced. Among
other things we purchased some of the Chinese
fashioned tea-cups with covers, unusually ele-
gant, both as regarded the material and the
painting. The price was naturally very low in
comparison with the sale value of these things
at Canton. In making our purchases we were
excessively annoyed by the importunate cu-
riosity of the crowd, consisting of the very
canaille of this large Chinese city. They
SHOPS AND THEIR CONTENTS.
43
L evinced a greater disposition to hallooing and
I other rudeness than we had yet observed ;
' and I was prepared to see this increase as we
j approached Canton.
We made the complete trajet of the town,
I and issued out at one of the western gates,
glad to reach our boats after a somewhat long
and boisterous excursion, A good deal of
visiting was observed to be going on between
our legate and the district mandarins. No
communications, however, took place between
I the Chinese authorities and the ambassador.
I It was a very fortunate circumstance for us,
I that the indispensable intercourse of business
[ or ceremony, between our chief conductor
' and the officers of the cities and towns
passed by us, made these occasional sojourns
at the different places a matter of necessity ;
for I am persuaded that to no other than this
did we owe the very frequent and interesting
I opportunities of observation presented to us
[ during the journey. Could they have blinded
I and handcuffed us all the way, it would
I have been infinitely more agreeable to our
44 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Chinese friends than the liberty which we
Left Ganking Foo at an early hour on the
morning of the lOth, and after the best day's
run since we had entered China (a hundred
and twenty-five ly, or forty miles), reached a
place called Hwa-tpten Chin, " the flower-garden
station," in the evening. On our way we
pussed Tung-lew Hien on our left, a walled
city of the third class, but containing within
its extensive enceinte fewer streets than fields
and gardens. The most populous part of the
place was on the outside of the walls, between
them and the river, along the sides of a creek
or stream communicating with the Keang. It
is probable that the severe municipal regula-
tions in the interior of Chinese cities may
induce a number of persons to prefer erecting
their dwellings or shops on the outside of the
walls. At least we had frequently observed
the same indications throughout the empire.
It rained a little, with a dark gloomy
November sky, soon after our arrival at Hwa-
guen Chin; but we made an excursion along
FATAL ACCIDENT. 45
the side of the river to a small wood, consist-
' iog principally of green hollies, where several
of the younger members of the party trespassed
so far on the lord of the manor of Hwa-yuen
Chin as to cut themselves some walking^ticks.
On the following morning a reason truly
Original and Chinese was given for the boats
staying another day at this anchorage- — because
it rained. It is probable, however, that they
were deterred from proceeding by the lowering
and windy state of the sky, although nothing
eventually came of it.
The 11th November was doomed to be a
I black day in our calendar. The rain poured
incessantly on our leaky roofs ; and an unfor-
tunate catastrophe in the evening proved the
crowning disaster, being the only fatal acci-
dent that occurred to the embassy in China.
I A soldier of the ambassador's guard, as he was
passing along the gangway-board at the side
of the boat, fell into the water and disappeared,
being drawn under l)y the current. Every
I exertion was made to find and save him, but
46 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
with no eflfect; until the boats having been
moved the body came up, though much too
late to restore life. A message was sent to
the legate, requesting that we might not start
in the morning until after the funeral, which
met with a ready assent; and the mandarins
showed great alacrity in providing a coffin and
all things suitable.
^ At nine on the following morning the
guard was turned out, and most of the mem-
bers of the mission followed the body of their
poor countryman to his solitary grave in the
centre of China. On arriving at the place
of interment, near the Chinese guard-house,
the chaplain read the funeral service, at the
conclusion of which the comrades of the
deceased soldier fired three volleys of musketry
over his remains. Here the Chinese paid a
pretty mark of respect on their own part, and
one which, being quite unexpected, came with
the better eflfect. After the volleys from the
guard were concluded, they fired oflF three small
pieces, and a band of music struck up one of
LITTLE ORPHAN HILL.
47
I their funeral aire. This was evidently intended
I to imitate and to second our own ceremony.
On the return of the party to our boats,
the whole squadron set sail, and proceeded
along one of the branches of the river,
which was divided by a long island into two
streams. Towards the evening we approached
a very singular rock, famous among the Chinese
under the name of Seaou Koo-shan, the " Little
Orphan (or Solitary) Hill," rising precipitously
from the water to the height of between two
and three hundred feet. It appeared inacces-
sible in all points except one, and here the Bud-
hist priests had contrived to erect some of their
temples on terraces rising one above the other,
in a moat uncommon and picturesque manner.
Presently we perceived some of these mendicant
gentry afloat in a small boat, ready to board
our barges in search of donations. They were
very thankful for the gift of a dollar or two,
and presented books in which we recorded
our names in both Chinese and English, —
relics which would no doubt remain in the
_ archives of the temple as rare curiosities.
48 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
But perhaps the most remarkable feature
was the countless swarm of pelicans, closely
resembling the fishing bird of the country,
which absolutely darkened with their numbers
the summit and sides of the rock. It is here
that they probably breed ; while they find their
subsistence in the waters of the great river
which flows round the base of this vast stone
pillar. The larger number of these aquatic
birds adhered to the face of the precipitous rock,
or stood upon its ledges ; others were soaring
about the summit, and added very much to the
interest and life of the scene.
We had now entered the limits of the pro-
vince Keangsyy and the first town that we
passed, by name Peng-tse Hieriy was in point of
situation the most remarkable of any that had
yet been seen. This city of the third order lay
on our left, and might be described as nestled
in a romantic valley or basin, formed by the
lofty hills surrounding it. Nearly the whole of
the built and inhabited part was in this valley,
but the walls themselves surrounded a much
larger area, running up the ridges and over
STORM, AND CHANCE OF SHIPWRECK. 49
the summits of the hiUs at the sides and back
of the town; while the front or water line
ran horizontally across the valley, looking
towards the river. A very good Chinese
drawing, in fair perspective, of this singular
place is possessed by the author.
The weather became extremely thick and
boisterous, but our squadron nevertheless pro-
ceeded, and some of the boats with much
difficulty reached Kinkang-leaou, our destined
resting-place, being a village of small note at
the mouth of a creek on the north bank of
the river. Many of our companions did not
reach the anchorage until the following morn-
ing, and one of the boats, having been driven
from shore with only two of the crew on
board, ran a narrow risk of being wrecked on
the "little orphan rock." The passengers
and their servants were obliged .to turn out
and provide for their safety by personal exer-
tions.
The wind continued so unfavourable and
stormy, that we passed the thirteenth of
November at this anchorage, the Chinese
VOL. II. D
50 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
stating it to be about sixty ly, or less than
twenty miles, distant from the mouth of the
Poyang lake, which we were now nearly
approaching. We became naturally anxious
to see this famous feature of the Chinese em-
pire, which, though seventy miles in length,
is only the second lake in point of size, and
yields considerably in extent to the Tong ting
hoOi in the province Hoo-kwong. I had a
printed Chinese itinerary, which, in its account
of distances, varied materially from the accounts
of the mandarins. It was to be expected, how-
ever, that travellers on such a river as the
Yang'tse-keang could not calculate their dis-
tances with the same nicety as upon a turnpike
road in Europe.
Kwong visited the ambassador and expressed
the anxieties that he had experienced during
the late stormy weather, especially in reference
to the boat with two of our companions so
nearly wrecked. There was no difficulty in
believing the Kinchae to be sincere in his
professions, as it is pretty certain that any
serious catastrophe, involving a number of
QUIT THE YANG-TSE-KEANG. 51
the members of the mission, would be visited
upon him with severity by the emperor, ac-
cording to the unflinching system of respon-
sibility which so strongly marks the Chinese
government. The legate stated that an oflicial
report had been received of the safe arrival
of all the ships of the embassy at Canton.
On the fourteenth of November we set sail
early in the morning towards the Poyang lake,
which was not twenty miles distant. On the
bold and hilly shore to the left we passed
Hookow^Hieny or " the city of the lake's
mouth," embosomed in high hills in a manner
not unlike Peng-tse Hieriy already described.
This town is at the very entrance of the
Poyang, as its name imports. Here, after
little less than a month's protracted, but not
tedious journey, we quitted the magnificent
Yang-tse^keang, nearly four hundred miles
from its mouth, but still two thousand miles
short of its source ! It is upwards of fifteen
times longer than the river Thames, and bears
about the same proportion to it, that the terri-
d2
52 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
tory of China bears to that of England and
Scotland.
We had found its sides composed of the
most beautiful country lying in the finest
climate, and planted with numerous and
flourishing cities. Being the first Englishmen
who had ever navigated its stream, and proba-
bly the last who for a long period of years
would be able to do so, the abundant leisure
and opportunities afforded by our frequent
halts had been employed agreeably, and per-
haps not unprofitably, in strict accordance
with the precept of the English poet, who says
with reference to our own Thames : —
" Search not its bottom, but survey its shore."
We sailed into the lake by the channel,
(about a mile in width,) through which it
discharges its waters into the Keang. When
this had been passed, the first prominent object
was the Ta-koo-shdriy or " great solitary rock,"
rising out of the midst of the waters. In point
of size, this rather exceeded the Seaou-koo-shdn
previously passed, but it was inferior in irregu-
POYANG LAKE. 53
larity of shape, and general effect. The accessi-
ble portions of the sides and the summit were
occupied, as before, by temples and the dwell-
ings of the priests. When the progress of our
boats gave us a view from the south-west, at
the distance of about three miles, the rock
assumed a longer and flatter shape, not unlike
a high shoe, and for this reason it is also
called Heae-shdriy ("the shoe rock,") by the
Chinese.
The Poyang does not possess that clearness
of water, so frequently observable in large
lakes from the subsidence and deposition of
the soil previously held in suspension. So
many troubled streams pour into it on all sides,
from the mountainous country around, that
there is not time for this operation ; besides
which, it is probable that the bottom of the
lake is not very deep. At noon we reached
Takoo-tdngy a town situated within a deep
bay, formed between what might be called the
main land, and a small peninsula, jutting out
like a breakwater into the lake.
The mountains inland to the westward rose
54 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
gradually to a great height, until the most
distant were capped with clouds, and could not
be less than five thousand feet above the level
of the lake. This range is called the Leu-
sMriy and is one of the most celebrated in
China, for reasons which will presently appear,
independent of its great natural beauties.
Our first excursion was a walk towards these,
crossing over from the little peninsula on a
sandy isthmus just broad enough to allow of
a good pathway. We succeeded in reaching
the top of the range of hills next in height to
the Leu-shan, though still greatly inferior,
and thence had a noble view of the lake and the
surrounding country. These hills were covered
with earth to the very top, but yet uncultivated.
The vast variety of herbs which grew upon
them were, almost without exception, strongly
aromatic. A beautiful species of bright laurel-
leaved oak, and the sycamore, were the trees
principally observed.
The rainy and unsettled weather on the
15th of November prevented our boats
leaving their safe anchorage in the bay, to
CITY OF NANKANG-FOO. 55
tempt the waters of the lake. Our crews
spent the interval in their noisy sacrifices
with the gong, which accompanied the slaugh-
ter of a cock, and the burning of much tinsel
paper, with a view to securing a favourable
and safe passage through the dangers. The
rain did not prevent our exploring the town
of Takochtdngy where we found many porcelain
shops, and made some advantageous purchases.
The abundance of this manufacture in the
neighbourhood was indicated by the man-
darins, our conductors, sending to the ambassa-
dor and commissioners a present of forty or
fifty tea-cups each.
We left our anchorage at ten o'clock on
the following morning, when the weather had
cleared up, and proceeded towards Nankang-foo
on the western shore of the lake. This inland
sea had not as yet appeared to us very remark-
able for its breadth; but they informed us
that we had not reached the broadest part,
which extends to the southward of Nankang-
foo. We arrived at this city early in the day,
and anchored near a mole built along the
56 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
south-eastern side of the town, forming a small
harbour for boats to lie in, secure from the
tempestuous waters of the lake in bad weather.
Sufficient swell existed, as it was, to make it
resemble an arm of the sea, and the shore
was covered with shingles in the manner of
a beach.
Immediately on our arrival a party pro-
ceeded to walk through the town. The walls
were new, and appeared to have been lately
built or repaired, but the town, strange to
say, was completely desolate within. The
shops were not so good as at the little town
where we had lately stopped, and a very large
portion of the area within the walls consisted
of fields. The only decorations were a con-
siderable number of stone paelows, or honorary
gateways, on which the carved relief was re-
markably bold, and contained representations
of ancient historical events in well executed
work.
The inscriptions on some of these proved
them to have existed between two and three
hundred years, from the solid material of their
LEU-SHAN MOUNTAINS. 57
construction, very unlike the wooden gateways
of the same kind which we had often seen
elsewhere. The town must at some former
period have been an important and flourishing
place, in connexion with the literary and
classical recollections of the Leu-shan in the
immediate neighbourhood, which will pre-
sently be noticed. We were much amused to
find the customary prohibitions addressed to
the people, forbidding them to communicate
with us, converted at this place into four
verses of seven syllables, and thus pasted up on
the walls. It was probably intended that this
song of non-intercourse should be committed
to memory.
As nothing more of interest existed within
the town, we went through it to the opposite
side, and pursued our walk in the direction
of the lofty range of the Leu-shan, some of
whose highest peaks were evidently covered
with snow drifts. Keeping a very fine and
.conspicuous water-fall in view, we reached the
bottom of the range, and observed that the
rocks were of the primitive kinds. The late-
d3
58 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
ness of the hour compelled us to return sooner
than we wished, but with a determination to
renew the attempt to ascend at an early hour
on the following day, if still at our anchor-
age.
The beauty and sublimity of these moun-
tains, combined with other associations, has
rendered them the frequent subject of poetical
celebration. The following lines are literally
translated from some verses written by a Chi-
nese who had ascended to the top : —
'* Yonder falls a precipitous cascade of three thousand feet ;
Here the hibiscus shades every rising summit ;
The mountain touches the sky and separates the orbs ;
The drifting snows fly amidst the thunder.
I am like a white bird among the clouds ;
I insult the winds, and invade the profound abyss.
As I turn and look down on each neighbouring province,
The evening smoke of the dwellings appears in blue
specks."
A southerly wind fortunately prevented our
moving on the 17th, and we accordingly set
out in a large party with the intention of
reaching the mountains, and ascending them.
Four miles of the distance were accomplished
LEU-SHAN MOUNTAINS. 59
before we seemed to be more than half way ;
at which some were so far dispirited as to
content themselves with surveying the country
from an insulated hill in the neighbourhood,
and then returning towards the boats. Others
of us, less fatigued or more enterprising, aug-
mented our speed with the determination of
scaling the heights.
Seeing a pagoda perched up at the elevation
of many hundred feet near the water-fall,
we made that our mark, and fortunately dis-
covered a regular pathway up one of the
ravines. As the increasing elevation changed
the climate, we gradually observed the plants
and trees which are found in a natural state
in England. Slate appeared to be a principal
constituent of this long and stupendous range ;
and in the neighbourhood were quarries of
fine granite. In about three hours and a half
after quitting the town we reached the pagoda,
a most romantic spot, which fully repaid the
labour of attaining it.
To the left of the pagoda, and just above
the waterfall, was a small temple, near which
60 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
we observed some priests across the ravine
which separated us. To this we accordingly
directed our steps, not without the hope of some
rest and refreshment after our up-hill walk of
eight or nine miles, which must be repeated
on the return. Our clerical friends expressed
as much surprise at our strange appearance
as befitted persons of their reserved character ;
but civilly presented us with tea, and with the
meagre and anchorite fare to which their sect
is restricted; though scandal whispers that
there are always better things sv ra> xpv7rra>,
— in the cupboard.
I wrote in Chinese the names of our party,
and the occasion which had brought us, and
left it at the pagoda ; after which it was time to
return. The cascade on finishing its descent
formed one or two beautifully clear and pebbly
streams, which wandered through the finely
cultivated plain between the mountains and
the lake, before they emptied themselves into
the latter. We crossed these several times
over bridges of hewn granite, well built of
immensely long blocks of that material; for
HALL OF CONFUCIUS. 61
which, however, I had been fully prepared by
the skill with which the Chinese quarry that
' hardest of stones near Canton. We were glad
to reach our boats after a delightful excursion
of nearly eighteen miles fast walking.
Two days further delay at our present halt-
ing-place would have tired us, had the neigh-
bourhood of Nankang-foo been less worthy
of attention ; but the time was fully occupied.
Another excursion towards the mountains
brought us to a romantic dell not far from
the bottom of the waterfall, where we found
gigantic characters, some feet in length, cut
deeply into the face of the native rock, and
calculated to endure for centuries. They were
memorials of persons who had visited the spot,
and who must have employed practised work-
men in the execution.
On returning to the town, a handsome tem-
ple or hall of Confucius, styled Wun miaou,
(temple of letters,) attracted my attention.
The granite of the Leu-shan formed the pave-
ment, the steps, and the basement of a number
of courts and halls in which were arranged
62 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
tablets, commemorative of the worthies of the
province and city ; while the principal apart-
ment of the temple contained the tablet of the
great teacher himself, with the inscription,
" The seat of the deified Confiicius, most holy
teacher of ancient times." Everything in this
city wore a cast of Chinese antiquity and let-
ters, even to the materials of writing ; for the
slate of the mountains supplies the substance
of which they manufacture their slabs for
rubbing the cakes of ink.
This district was not the birthplace of Con-
fucius, who was a native of Shantung; but
his great disciple and commentator Choo-tsze
lived and taught in a secluded valley about seven
or eight miles distant from the city. A party
of us started on the 19th of November to ex-
plore this spot, and having at first missed our
way, were obliged to find a Chinese to guide
us. It was situated in a nook by the side of
a rivulet which flowed down from the moun-
tains, and was called " the vale of the white
deer," from a tradition that the sage employed
such an animal to bring his provisions from
COMMERCIAL TOWN OF WOOCHIN. 63
the market, by slinging a basket to its horns.
The deer was represented in the hall of the
temple by a figure. A tree was pointed out
as having been planted by the Chinese philoso-
pher, just as Voltaire's tree is shown at Ferney.
This spot was now appropriately dedicated
to the purposes of education. In one of the
apartments, used as a schoolroom, were sus-
pended five large tablets, on which was in-
scribed a dissertation on the " five human re-
lations," which they designate as — 1. Father
and son ; 2. Prince and minister ; 3. Husband
and wife ; 4. Elder and younger brothers ;
5. Friends among each other. The buildings
were comprised in a number of different courts,
but quite plain, and evidently intended for use
rather than show. This valley forms a place
of pilgrimage to the literati of China.
We quitted Nankang-foo at six o'clock on
the morning of the 20th of November, and as
the wind blew strong froiA the north-west,
made great progress through this last portion
of our journey on the lake, which terminated
on the arrival of the boats at Wo(hchin^ a very
64 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
considerable place, though not dignified with
any of the three terms applied to walled cities.
We were much surprised, on walking through
the town, to find it excel not only Nankang-foo
in riches and population, hut most other cities
that we had hitherto seen.
The gradual approach to Canton was
marked by the bales of woollens and other
European manufactures in the shops ; and in
one place we found a view of the factories, and
of the ships at Whampoa. Two very hand-
some temples, perhaps the finest we had yet
seen, attracted our notice. One of them was
dedicated to Wan^show-choo, " the lord of long
life ;** a gift which is probably highly valued by
the rich and prosperous merchants, who con-
gregate at Wochchin from the north, south,
and east of the empire. The three good things
which every Chinese wishes his friends at the
new year, are Fo^ Lo^ Show, " Happiness,
wealth, and long life."
On quitting the Poyang lake at this point,
we were surprised to have found the average
breadth so much less than had been expected.
POYANG LAKE. 65
It may possibly extend considerably to the
south-east ; or the flat expanse, on which we
were now entering, might occasionally be
flooded in such a manner as to have caused the
designation of lake to be applied to that also.
We had already seen to the northward that
what elsewhere would be called only swamps,
were frequently distinguished by the Chinese
with the name of Hoo^ or lake.
66
CHAPTER XIII.
Emperor's birth-day — city of Nanchang-foo — change of
boats — Porcelain — niuc Chinese bottles from Egyptian
tombs— examined — a conflagration — military degrees —
parallel with civil — cricket match in the centre of China
— Asiatic inertness — examinations of literary candidates
— moral instruction — ^popular maxims and sayings.
Having quitted the Poyang lake, we were now
in a sort of delta (if the embouchures of seve-
ral rivers combined may be allowed that term),
formed of the alluvial dSbris brought down by
the streams towards the lake, and intersected
by a great number of channels. Along one of
these we proceeded on the 21st of November
towards Nanchang-foo^ the capital of Keangsy^
and reached a place called Whangshariy still
above twenty miles from our destination. The
river being narrow, and the stream against us,
trackers again became serviceable, and we re-
sumed our walks along the shore. The first
emperor's birth-day. 67
pasture that we had yet seen in China now
occurred. It extended a long way from the
banks, and being closely eaten by the buffaloes
and other cattle which grazed it, was as level
and smooth as a lawn.
On the morning of the 22nd the wind was
too light to make any way against the stream,
and we brought up at a place called Tseaou-
shay ; but in the course of an hour resumed
our route. We were given to understand that
in two days hence, the 24th November, would
be the anniversary of the emperor s birth-day,
an occasion always specially and reverently cele-
brated by the officers of government. The
Kinchae, our conductor, with a want of pene-
tration which was hardly to have been ex-
pected from a person of his sense and acuteness,
appears to have entertained a hope that the am-
bassador might be induced to join in the pros-
tration at this place, notwithstanding all that
had occurred near Peking !
He did not introduce the subject himself,
but employed one of the Canton native linguists
to sound the second commissioner, from whom
68 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
such answers were obtained as convinced the
legate that his hopes were utterly fruitless. In
order to show that every disposition existed on
the part of the British embassy to honour the
emperor, short of the last act of humiliation, a
message was sent by the ambassador saying that
his excellency would be happy to compliment
the emperor after the English fashion, by
parading the guard and firing a salute, should
it meet with his approbation. To this a civil
answer was returned by the legate to the effect
that " he thanked his lordship for the proposal,
but as this was not the Chinese custom, he
would not trouble him.** I expected as much ;
for, so far as we are concerned, the emperor
must be aut CcesaVy aut nullus.
In the course of this little piece of negocia-
tion it was intimated by the legate that as the
emperor s birth-day would be the occasion of
considerable bustle within the city itself of
Nanchang-foOy and as there would, moreover,
be an examination of students, he requested
that the gentlemen of the embassy would ab-
stain from visiting the interior, for fear of the
CITY OF NANCHANG-FOO. 69
chances of trouble. There seemed nothing
unreasonable in this request, considering the
perfect liberty that had been enjoyed by us.
No restriction, at the same time, was interposed
as regarded the suburbs, which in Chinese
towns diflfer little, if at all, from the interior
of their walled towns.
Early on the morning of the 23rd our boats
were anchored at Nanchang-foo. This city
is said to have been a great suflFerer by the Tar-
tars at the last conquest, who left nothing ex-
cept the walls ; but the interior has been since
restored. In all those instances where we had
seen a considerable circuit of city walls only
partly filled with an inhabited town, I was
told that the void space was the result of Tartar
devastation, which had never since been re-
paired. Nanking and Nanchang-foo are espe-
cial instances of this. The southern capital
was, of course, the particular object of their
attack.
We were now about to ascend the river
which flows down from the mountains forming
the boundary of Keangsy and Canton pro-
70 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
vinces ; and as both the rapidity and the shal-
lowness of the stream must naturally increase
as we mounted towards the source, it became
necessary to embark at this place in boats of a
different size and construction from our last.
The new boats were found drawn up in a line
along the bank of the river; the legate had
given such bad accounts of their size and ac-
commodation that they surpassed our expecta-
tions, and seemed capable, after some alteration,
of being made tolerably comfortable. The
boat, however, which was provided for the am-
bassador appearing to be much inferior to that
of the KinchaCy it was determined that a better
vessel should be procured before any luggage
was allowed to be moved.
While search was making for this purpose,
the owners of some boats on the other side of
the river came to me, and saying that the man-
darins who had the charge of providing boats
had procured the oldest and the worst for us,
requested we would go over and look at them ;
adding that if we insisted on it, they would
be our s. On inspecting these, we found three
PORCELAIN. 71
boats much superior to any of the rest, and
selected the best of them for his excellency.
The mandarins on the following morning stated
that we could not have them, but brought an-
other very good boat with glass windows, which
proved satisfactory, and similar windows were
added to some of the others. The party of
four with whom I had travelled being too much
for the new boats, we separated into pairs for
the remainder of the journey.
On proceeding into the suburbs of the city,
these appeared in no wise diflferent from the
city itself, which some of the party entered
without knowing it. The porcelain shops were
extremely well furnished, and reminded us of
our vicinity to the great emporium of porcelain,
Jaou'chow Foo, which lies about sixty miles
distant on the north-east; while King-te"
ching, the place of manufacture, is a little be-
yond that, in the same direction. It was here
that Pere Dentrecolles, the intelligent Jesuit,
passed some years of his life, and acquired that
intimate knowledge of the methods practised
by the Chinese in the porcelain manufacture.
72 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
which first gave rise to its imitation in
Europe.
The knowledge of the finest kinds of porce-
lain is not of very ancient date in China ; but
various sorts of earthenware and pottery were
known to this ingenious people in the earliest
periods of their history. It is reasonable to
suppose that they proceeded by gradual stages
from one to the other ; and that the improve-
ment of the opaque and coarse-grained earth-
enware, with a glaze on its surface, until it
became that beautiful semi-transparent sub-
stance which we now admire in their porcelain,
was the work of ages. This is proved by the
antique specimens which the Chinese are fond
of collecting. In connexion with this subject,
I introduce a curious topic, which was slightly
noticed in a previous work,* but concerning
which much additional information has since
been obtained.
It is about five years since the public atten-
tion was drawn to the fact of several little
porcelain bottles, inscribed with Chinese cha-
* • The Chinese.'
CHINESE PORCELAIN BOTTLES. 73
racters, having been found in Egypt, mixed up
with the scarabsei and gems, and other small
objects in the ancient tombs of Thebes, Of
these, Mr. WUkinson, in his work ' On the
Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyp-
tians,' observes as follows : —
" The accidental discovery of a single bottle
of this kind would naturally pass unheeded,
and if we felt surprised that it should be depo-
sited in an Egyptian sepulchre, conjecture
would reasonably suggest that an accidental
visitor in later times might have dropped it
there, while searching for ancient treasures of
a more valuable kind. But this explanation
ceases to be admissible when we find the same
have been discovered in various Tkeban tombs.
I myself have seen several, two of which I
brought to England ; another is described by
the learned Professor Rosellini, and found by
him in a previously unopened Egyptian tomb
of uncertain date, which he refers, from the
style of the sculpture, to a Pharaonic period,
not much later than the eighteenth dynasty ; a
fourth is in the museum at Jersey; another
VOL. II. E
74 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
was purchased by Lord Prudhoe at Coptos,
and is now in the museum at Alnwick Castle ;
two (three) others are in the possession of Mrs.
Bowen ; and another belongs to Mr. William
Hamilton. They are about two inches in
height; one side presents a flower, and the
other an inscription," &c.
Here then, are no less than nine porcelain
bottles from Egypt, most of which I have seen,
and read the Chinese inscriptions with which
they are ornamented. Mr. Wilkinson sup-
poses that they were brought into Egypt
through India, with which country he believes
the Egyptians to have traded at a very remote
period ; and he states it as his opinion that they
were applied to the ordinary purpose of holding
the kohl, or coUyrium, used by women for
staining their eyelids.*
When I saw in Lord Prudhoe's possession
the first specimen that came under my obser-
Tation, his lordship informed me that the little
bottle had not been found by himself in a
* 'Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,'
vol. iii.
PORCELAIN BOTTLES EXAMINED. 75
tomb, but purchased from the fellahs at Cop-
toe, near Thebes, in company with some of
the small Egyptian relics which are there found
in such numbers. On my arrival at Florence
soon afterwards, I discovered by chance that
Mrs. Bowen, a traveller in Egypt, had three
more of these bottles, purchased in like manner
from the fellahs, for the value of a few aous,
together with scarabsei, and other small an-
tiques. As an object of gain, then, there does
not seem to have been any great temptation
for the practice of fraud on the part of the
sellers.
When I had examined Signer Rosellini's
specimen in the grand duke's museum at Flo-
rence, I wrote to the professor at Pisa, re-
questing he would favor me with a statement
of the circumstances under which he had be-
come possessed of the bottle. The following
is an extract of the reply which I received to
my letter:—
" Lorsque je faisais faire de fouilles dans
le necropole de Thebes, j'avais donne ordre qu'a
e2
76 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
la decouverte d'un tombeau intact on m'ap-
pella k rinstant, et que personne n'osa y entrer
avant moi. C'est de cette fa^on que je suis
entr^ le premier dans trois tombeaux, dont j*ai
abattu moi-meme le petit mur en briques qui
bouche Tentree k la chambre sepulcrale. Ayant
penetre dans un de ces trois tombeaux, j y ai
trouve, avec d'autres objets Egyptiens, places
dans un petit panier tissu de feuilles de palmier,
le petit vase en question.**
The above is very positive and circumstantial
testimony, from a respectable source, as to the
situation and manner in which one of the bot-
tles w^as found. The only other evidence that
we possess consists in the appearances pre-
sented by the things themselves. On the first
inspection of Lord Prudhoe's specimen, it so
happened that I had in my possession a modern
snuff or scent bottle from China, exactly alike
in size and shape, but altogether different in the
nature of the porcelain ; that from the Egyp-
tian tombs being extremely coarse, while the
modern Chinese bottle, on the contrary, was
PORCELAIN BOTTLES EXAMINED. 77
of the finest transparent porcelain now manu-
factured by them, and freely admitting of the
passage of light through its sides. This dif-
ference in the substance might have led to the
inference that the bottles were not Chinese,
had not the inscribed characters placed this
point beyond a doubt
From the nature of the manufacture, then,
it might be concluded that the bottles from
Egypt were made at a period when the art in
China was yet in its infancy. The next point
to be considered is the character inscribed.
This is the contracted or running-hand used in
writing, the commencement of which it seems
difficult to assign with much certainty to any
particular date, though Dr. Morrison, in his
Dictionary, refers the first use of this form to
the early part of the Christian era. The cha-
racter is just the same as that used in printing,
but contracted for the sake of rapidity in writ-
ing : as soon, therefore, as writing came into
use, the contraction of the characters would be
most likely to follow as a matter of conve-
nience or necessity; and hence the difficulty
78 SKETCHES OP CHINA.
of affixing it as an invention to any particular
period.
The inscription on every bottle that I have
seen from Egypt consists of a line of five words,
being in fact a verse of poetry. It is remark-
able that three of the bottles have exactly the
same inscription, with some difference in the
legibility of the characters — -Hica kae, yew y^
nien — of which this is the signification — " The
flower opens, and lo, another year." Every
one of the Ixittles has a flower or a sprig rudely
sketched on the reverse side in Ijlack and red.
A fourth bottle has inscribed on it, C/ie tsae
tsze shan choong — " Only in the midst of this
PORCELAIN BOTTLES EXAMINED.
79
mountain." The characters on this specimen
are plainer than on any of the others, and
easily legible at first sight. The surfaces of
some of them have suffered from age and at-
trition, the enamel and inscription being par-
tially worn.
^M On another is exhibited the following line of
^B five words, Ming yue soong choong chaou —
H " The bright moon shines amidst the firs."
™ This is the specimen adduced in ' The Chinese,'
and it is one of tlie most obscure with refer-
ence to the condition of the characters.
A sixth bottle, on which the writing is
very distinct, bears this rerge, Heng hwa
80 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
hoong she ly — " The almond flower blustes for
ten miles around." This is traceable to a
Chinese song or poem older than the Ctristian
era. The specimen in the museum at Jersey,
and that in Mr. Hamilton's j»ossession, I have
not yet seen.
It is strange that another of these curiouB
bottles, identical in size, color, material, and
general appearance, was lately found at Mat^
lock, in Derbyshire, by Lord Prudhoe, who
kindly forwarded it to me. It differs from the
others only in having ten characters inscribed
instead of live ; but in other respects is so per-
PORCELAIN BOTTLES EXAMINED.
fectly the same, that one is almost persuaded the
whole number of bottles were produced at the
same time, and in the same place, if not by the
same hand. I can only account for its being
found at Matlock by that place being a resort
for strangers, one of whom had it in his pos-
session (perhaps from Egj'pt), and left it there.
The repeated discovery of these little vases,
among the small Egyptian relics, not in one
tomb merely but in several, must be viewed as
an extraordinary fact, when backed by the per-
sonal testimony of Signor Roaellini, and of
others. The professor observes in his letter
to myself — " J'ai ete bien surpris de cette de-
couverte, d'autant plus que plusieurs fragmens
de vases pareilles m'avaient ete ofFerts par les
fellahs, et je les avais refuses, en croyant que
c'etait de la moderne manufacture de Chine,
porte par quelque hasard en Egypte. Jje
tombeau ou j'ai trouve ce petit vase n'avait pas
de date, maia d'apres son emploiement, etle style
des objets qu'il contient, je le juge appartenant
au temps des dynasties XVIII"", a la XX""' ;
e'eatrJi-direjde dix-huit a onze ei^cles avant J. C.
e3
83 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Plus tard M. Wilkinson m'a assure avoir lui-
mSme trouve, dans un tombeau intact k Th^bes^
un petit vase Chinois presque semblable.***
These testimonies being impartially stated>
every one may draw his own inferences. Sup-
posing the high antiquity of the bottles to be
established^ two interesting conclusions would
be deducible : — First, that the Egyptians at a
remote period had some communication, either
direct or indirect with China, and that they
set some value on these porcelain bottles, which
in their bluish green color resemble the coarse
porcelain objects of undoubted Egyptian origin,
found with them.f Secondly, that the Chinese
practised the manufacture of porcelain at a very
early date, but in a degree of fineness greatly
inferior to the present state of the art.
That portion of the internal evidence which
most militates against the high antiquity of
these specimens, is the form of the character,
* Mr. Wilkinson only purchased his of the Arahs.
t I have remarked, in my former work on China, that the
round metallic mirrors in Mr. Salt's collection struck me at
once hy their perfect identity with the ancient metallic mir-
rors of the Chinese, preserved hy them to this day, hut now
superseded by the use of glaos.
PORCELAIN BOTTLES EXAMINED.
83
which certainly is not that which the Chinese
ascribe to their remotest periods. One of the
verses, too, is said to belong to the Tdng
dynasty (a.d. 622— €97) ; but this is less de-
cisive, as it might then have been borrowed
from something earlier ; and the three hun-
dred poems compiled by Confucius hunself, live
hundred years before Christ, were of a date
much anterior to that period.
It is supposed by many that the Egyptian
tombs have (some of them at least) received a
succession of tenants, and that a portion of
their contents are therefore not referable to
a very remote antiquity. Under tins supposi-
tion, the appearances of the bottles would be-
come more reconcileable with the circumstances
under which they appeared. They might be-
long to the period of the Roman empire, when
we know tliat there was a direct intercourse
with Cliina, or they might perhaps be brought
as low down as the period of the Arabian com-
merce with that country. I am afraid that
the subject must continue to remain involved
in considerable doubt, until our expected con-
84 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
quests in China have enabled the Society of
Antiquaries to establish a direct correspondence
with the Hdnlin College at Peking !
Although the 24th of November was the
emperor's birthday, during our stay at Nanr
chang Foo^ we could perceive no particular
bustle among the people ; the observance of the
day was confined exclusively to the mandarins.
Some presents for the embassy were brought
from the legate, and on every subsequent day
during our stay something or other came from
the judge and treasurer of Keangndn, who had
travelled with us thus far, and were to leave us
at this place.
A dangerous fire (in Chinese towns a fire is
always particularly dangerous) broke out on
the opposite side of the river to that where our
squadron was anchored. We all mounted on
the tops of the boats to view it, and his excel-
lency sent a message to the legate, offering to
despatch two engines, which were among the
presents, to assist in extinguishing the con-
flagration. This offer, however, was declined,
and we could see the Chinese working an en-
CONFLAGRATION.
85
gine against the flames with great effect. It
seems that from Canton the use and manufac-
ture of the fire-engine has become universal
through China ; proving that, where an in-
vention or discovery is of undoubted practical
utility, they are not above availing themselves of
it, as they have shown in the case of vaccination,
and some other instances. In about two hours
the fire was completely extinguished, after
burning down several houses, and destroying,
as we were afterwards told, a great deal of
property.
Some of our party walked round the walls
of the city, and found it answering to the de-
scription in the first volume of Duhalde, the
area being nearly six miles in circuit, of an
oval shape, and with seven gates. In the
course of their excursion they came suddenly
upon a very curious scene — this was a military
examination for degrees of honor. Three man-
darins were contending in archery. They
started one by one from an ornamented gate-
way, erected for the purpose, on their small
horses finely decorated, and galloping past three
86 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
successive butts (placed forty or fifty paces from
each other), shot an arrow at each. The mark
was very large and at no great distance, but
the skill seemed to consist in fitting and aiming
the arrows with such rapidity while the horses
were at speed.
Several mandarins of rank were present in
their badges of ceremony, and a vast concourse
of spectators assembled to view each candidate.
Doctum eagittas tendere Sinicai
Arcu patemo."
" Learned in archery" particularly applies in
this instance, as the Chinese have military de-
grees corresponding in name to the civil, al-
though much less highly prized among them.
A " military doctor" does certainly sound very
strangely, and it may be apprehended that some
of these learned individuals must be greatly
puzzled by the novel practice of shot and shells
to which they are exposed in the pending
contest with our .forces ; almost justifying the
application of Milton's punning lines —
" The terms we send are terms of weight,
Of hard contents, and full of force urged home ;
MILITABV DEGREES. 07
Such as ire might perceive amua'd them all,
Aud stumbled many." — Pabad. Lost.
The military system of the Chinese becomes
in a measure interesting to us at present, and
there is some detail of it in the writings of
the Jesuits. The Bachelors in arms equal
in numbers their literary compeers, but almost
all of them are Tartars, Those among them
who aspire to the next higher step undergo
an examination or trial once in three years at
the chief city of each province, two months
after the literary examination, or about the
tenth moon, which was nearly the date of our
stay at Nanchang Foo.
There are three examinations for the mili-
tary Bachelors, and the viceroy presides at
them. The first (that viewed by our party)
consists in archery; the second in horseman-
ship; aud the third in what may be termed
strategics, as the candidates are furnished with
subjects of composition on points relating to the
mi^tary art. The names of the successful com-
petitors are publicly exhibited, as in the case
of the literary degrees.
88 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
The military doctors pass their examination
at Peking, in the same year with the literary ;
and those who gain this highest degree have a
claim to all the military employments which
correspond to the civil ones filled by the doctors
in letters. This strange parallel between the
civil and military profession is said to have
been instituted by the present Manchow em-
perors. Numberless precautions are used to
obviate the effects of favor and interest in these
examinations, military as well as civil. Al-
though the punishment of death is attached
to the discovery of corrupt practices, it is un-
derstood that the sons of powerful mandarins
are occasionally advanced unfairly, and to the
prejudice of those who have less influential
supporters.
The Kinchae appeared to be either very
partial to the city at which we were now stay-
ing, or, for some reason unknown to us, very
unwilling to hasten our progress towards Can-
ton. The emperor's birthday passed over, and
two days after that, without any symptoms of
moving, although our new boats were all ready
A VISIT. 89
and occupied. On the 26th of the month
Kwong Tajin visited the ambassador, accom-
panied by the judge and a military mandarin
of rank. In the course of conversation, the
legate was invited by his excellency to partake
of an entertainment subsequent to our ap-
proaching arrival at Canton, on board His
Majesty's frigate ; and it was observed to him
that Soong Tajin, the conductor of Ix)rd Ma-
cartney, had dined on board the Lion. Kwong
replied, very politely, that he was much behind
that minister in talent, but that his good wishes
towards us were quite as sincere. "How,"
exclaimed he, turning to the other Chinese
officers, '* shall I be able to part with my
friends?"
His good humour appeared to have been par-
ticularly excited by this meeting, as the Kinchae
afterwards sent a pleasure-boat, attended by
two mandarins, to convey the ambassador and
commissioners to a temple, erected by the salt
merchants of the place. It turned out to be a
very splendid one, the whole of the idols, and
the inside of the building, being quite new.
90 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
and on a scale of grandeur not surpassed by
any that we had seen. These salt merchants
are the farmers of the Chinese gabelle, or salt
revenue, and derive from their monopoly a fund
of wealth superior to that of the Hong mer*
chants, or monopolists of the European trade
at Canton.
A sort of public exhibition, truly and exr
clusively English, took place to-day at Nan-
chang Foo ; the first of the kind, it may safely
be averred, that had ever occurred in the heart
of the Chinese empire. This was nothing
more nor less than a cricket match, between
two elevens of the embassy. An immense,
but very well-behaved concourse of the Chi*
nese population assembled to view a spectacle
so entirely novel to them, and stood in a huge
circle formed by their police and soldiery. As
the hits increased in hardness, the circle quickly
enlarged itself, until every portion of it was
at a respectful distance from the players, while
several balls that plunged among the dense
crowd created no small commotion.
These active and hardy national habits con*
ASIATIC INERTNESS.
91
I
I
trast strongly with the inertness of the upper
and middle claBses in the East. Even among
the lower orders of the Chinese, great as their
industry may be in procuring a livelihood, or
exercising a profession, the endurance of active
exertion or toil from any other motive than
necessity, or with any other object than gain,
is almost unknown. The literary dignity of
the upper classes would be quite compromised
by such a rude exercise of the muscles as they
beheld on this occasion. One of the man-
darins expressed his surprise to me in the
evening ; and as I endeavoured to make him
comprehend that the sedentary pursuits of
learning were not the less valued among us
for any thing that he had seen to-day, this led
to a conversation respecting the triennial exa-
mination for literary degrees which had lately
terminated at Nanchang Foo.
It is the invariable rule to commence these
examinations on the 8th day of the 8th moon.
The two first days are occupied with the " Four
Books" of Confucius; the two nest with the
" Five Canonical works," — all these are the
92 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
standard of Chinese orthodoxy. Two more days
are spent upon general subjects^ chiefly political
essays, and the whole process of the examina-
tion is concluded in about nine days. To pre-
vent any communication of their essays to
persons outside, all the candidates are regis-
tered, and locked up together within the en-
closure for two successive nights at each of
the above examinations. They are strictly
searched, and allowed to have nothing in their
possession but blank paper, ink, and their hair
pencils for writing.
The three species of composition at the above
examinations are first, Wunrchang, or "fine
writing ;" secondly, She^ " verses ;" and thirdly,
Ts€y " essays on politics or government." Novel
theories *'in advance of the age" meet with no
favour, however well expressed. Everything
must be Confucian in sentiment and principle
as well as style. In this the Hdnlin College
at Peking is a sort of SorbonnCy which dictates
the points of orthodox belief, and watchfully
guards against heretical innovation. Such in-
stitutions account for the stationary state of
MORAL INSTRUCTION. 93
Chinese knowledge, and at the same time ex-
plain one of the causes which have contributed
to the stability of the Chinese system. The
famous ChoO'tsze (of whom we have read some
pages back) defined learning to be " imitating^
or conforming one's practice to the prescribed
rule ;" thus all the learned of China are the
servumpecus denounced by the Latin poet.
The most commendable feature of their sys-
tem is the general diffusion of elementary moral
education among the lower orders. To borrow
the opening paragraph of the Seaourhedy or
" book of youthful instruction," the children
of the poor and labouring classes are taught
" to love their parents, to respect their supe-
riors, to honour their teachers, to select their
friends — fundamental principles in governing
one's self; in regulating a family ; in ruling a
nation ; in tranquillising the world." It is in
the preference of moral to physical instruction
that even we might perhaps wisely take a leaf
out of the Chinese book, and do something to
reform this most mechanical age of our's.
This chapter may close with a collection of
94 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
additional maxims and sentences picked up in
the course of Chinese reading. Some of them
are good, others indiflferent ; but aU sufficiently
characteristic of the curious people who at pre-
sent occupy so much of our attention.
Maxims and Sayings.
1. Newness is valued in the garment, but
antiquity in the man.
2. For the sake of one good action, a hun-
dred evil ones should be forgotten.
3. The loftiest building arises from small
accretions.
4. Let me fulfil my own part, and await the
will of heaven.
5. Frugality is not difficult to the poor, nor
humility to the low.
6. The straightest trees are first felled, and
the clearest wells first dried up.
7. To the unwilling, the wing of a grasshop-
per is heavy; but to the willing a thousand
kin are light.
8. The best swimmers are oftenest drowned,
and the best riders have the worst falls.
MAXIMS AND 8ATIKOS. 95
9. The tongue, wliich is yielding, endures ;
the teeth, which are stubborn, perish.
10. The people are the roots of a state ; if
the roots are flourishing the state will endure.
11. The blind have the best ears, and the
deaf the sharpest eyes.
12. Life is a journey, and death a return
home.
13. It is better to suflFer an injury, than to
commit one.
14. Causeless anger resembles waves without
wind.
. 15. The horses back is not so safe as the
buffiilo's — (The mandarin is not so secure as
the husbandman).
16. A hunter's dog will at last die a violent
death (i. e. he who lives by the destruction of
others).
17. The wisest must in a thousand times be
once mistaken ; the most foolish in a thousand
times must be once right.
18. Forbearance is attended with profit. (The
word patience is often inscribed on the rings
of the Chinese.)
96 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
19. He must be bad whom everybody con-
demns.
20. He who is willing to inquire will excel ;
but the self-sufficient man will fail.
21. Evil is more easily learned than good.
22. Anger is like a little fire, which if not
timely checked may burn down a lofty pile.
23. It is easier to fill lakes and rivers than
to satisfy the heart of man.
24. He who hastens to be rich incurs peril.
25. Evil conduct is the " root of misery."
26. While silent, consider your own faults ;
and, while speaking, spare those of others.
27. He who is clothed in silk is seldom a
rearer of silkworms.
28. A discontented man is like a snake who
would swallow an elephant.
29. Too much lenity multiplies crimes.
30. Water is less dreaded than fire; yet
fewer suffer by fire than by water.
3 1 . When the error is committed, the good
advice is remembered — too late.
32. Every day cannot be a " feast of lan-
terns."
MAXIMS AND SAYINGS. 97
33. Fine gold fears not the fire, nor solid
stone the water.
34. The house wherein learning abounds
will rise ; that in which pleasure prevails will
faU.
35. The husbandman wishes for rain ; the
traveller for fair feather.
36. To spoil what is good by unseasonable-
ness, is like letting oflF fireworks in rain.
37. A leaky house on a rainy night — one
misfortune upon another.
38. If men will have no care for the future,
they will soon have sorrow for the present.
39. To look, listen, ask, and feel, is the busi-
ness of a physician.
40. An ignorant doctor is no better than a
murderer.
41. The sick man learns the advantages of
health.
42. He who will have fresh fish must not
mind the cost.
43. A large tree has some rotten branches ;
an extensive kindred includes some beggars.
44. When the crane and the oyster tug to-
VOL. II. F
98 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
gether, the fisherman makes his gain of it (ap-
plied to litigation).
45. A man must make himself despicable
before he can be really despised by others.
46. In every matter leave a little spare
ground — (carry nothing to extremes).
47. Hear both sides, and all will be clear ;
hear but one, and you will still be in the dark.
48. Kind feeling may be paid with kind
feeling ; but debts must be paid with hard cash.
49. To find others exactly like me is not
possible ; unless there were two m^s.
50. A needle is not sharp at both ends —
(nihil est ab omni parte beatum).
51. Plant a flower with care, and it may not
grow ; stick in a willow at random, and it
forms a thick shade.
52. Old age is like a candle in the wind —
easily blown out.
53. To show the value of secrecy, an emperor
made a statue of gold with its mouth closed.
54. Love of gain turns wise men into fools.
55. He who has many acquaintances will be
mixed up with many troubles.
MAXIMS AND SAYINGS. 99
56. To be over-prudent is not much better
than folly.
57. A scholar s children are familiar with
books ; a farmer's sons are versed in the sea-
sons.
58. Wife, fortune, children, and profession
— are all predestined.
59. A wife should excel in four things —
virtue, speech, person, and needlework.
60. High trees feel the wind ; lofty station
is obnoxious to danger.
61. A certain sage feared the testimony of
four witnesses — ^heaven, earth, his neighbour,
and himself.
62. To contrive is man s part ; to accomplish
is heaven s.
63. Those above should not oppress those
below; nor those below encroach on those
above.
64. He, who could see only three days into
futurity, might enrich himself for ever.
65. To be fully fed, and warmly clothed, and
to dwell at ease without learning, is little
better than a bestial state.
F 2
100 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
66. If a chattering bird be not placed in
the mouth, vexation will not sit between the
eyebrows.
67. Prosperity produces liberality and mode-
ration of temper.
68. An illiterate person is like a dry ink-
stone — turn it upside down, not a drop of ink
comes from it.
69. A good rat will not injure the grain
near its own hole — (It is an ill bird, &c.).
70. Think how you can sell a thing before
you buy it.
71. Produce much, consume little; labour
diligently, spend cautiously — (the way to get
rich).
72. To persecute the unfortunate, is like
throwing stones on one fallen into a well.
73. He, who has a yellow face and white
teeth, is an opium smoker.
74. When paths are constantly trodden they
are kept clean, but when abandoned the weeds
choke them up ; so weeds choke the mind in
the absence of employment.
101
CHAPTER XIV,
Peculiar boats on the Kankeang — difficult navigation —
symptoms of jealous precaution — merely local — town of
Wanganhien — hall of ancestors — mountain scenery —
white camellia — eighteen rapids — scraping a channel for
boats — city of Kanckowfoo — ^bamboo water wheels —
halt at Nanganfoo — preparations for land journey — cross
the Mei-ling pass — Chinese repast — increased military-
reach Canton province.
The river, by name Kankeang, against whose
course we were now to make our way towards
the frontier of Canton province, becomes so
shallow as well as rapid near its source, that
the boats which navigate it are of a peculiarly
light construction. The upper works are en-
tirely of matting, shaped like the tilt of a
waggon, and the stem and stern rise with a
sweeping curve high out of the water. In
this manner they are made as buoyant as
possible, and encounter the rapids and rocks
which beset their course with comparative im-
punity. These matted habitations were cer-
102 SKETCHES OF (CHINA.
tainly far from prepossessing in their appear-
ance ; but it was satisfactory to find that the
legate himself was obliged to submit to neces-
sity, and that he occupied one no better than
our own.
On trial they proved far more comfortable
and water-tight than was expected. We quitted
Nanchang on the 27th November with wet
and boisterous weather, calculated to put any
boats to the test, and were surprised to find
them turn out so well. The wind being con-
trary we made but small progress, and were
obliged to stop at a place called She-kea, about
fifty ly from our starting place. It proved to
be a small country town, but with respectable
shops, and an old pagoda of seven stories in the
vicinity. The weather was so miserably wet,
as to put a short stop to an attempted excur-
sion into the country.
We proceeded on the following day with no
better auspices, our boats being poled against
the stream with long bamboos, at the lower
extremity of which was an iron point, to pre-
vent their slipping against the rocks. The
DIFFICULT NAVIGATION. 103
bed of the river was composed of shingles and
gravel, with occasional masses of stone jutting
out. After the muddy canals and rivers to the
northward, it was a gratifying change to travel
along this clear and fresh-looking stream, and
we only wanted a change in our dismal weather
to render the journey a pleasant one. The flat
country which we had just passed through
began to assume a more varied and picturesque
appearance, with occasional clumps of trees,
and insulated hills. The massive camphor
tree with its dark green leaves, resembling the
Ilex in hue, was very abundant, and a great
ornament to the landscape. Our resting-place
on the 28th was Foong-ching hieuy a small town
with walls, but not the tenth part of the size
of many places which do not rank with it
municipally. The only thing we had to be
satisfied with, was our reception, which was
honoured with some very grand paelows (or-
namented gateways), and rather more Chinese
music than we wished for.
» The character of a mountain stream was
marked by the great banks of gravel and stones
104 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
which constantly appeared above the water in
the channel of the river. Stone embankments
were occasionally observed on each side, to serve
as a security against the sudden swellings of
the stream. It was difficult to imagine how
we could proceed at all further on, as our light
boats already touched ground very frequently.
The Chinese informed us that we might con-
gratulate ourselves on the incessant rain which
had fallen since quitting NanchangfoOy as it
would afford us sufficient water for our boats
nearer to the source of the Kankeang.
On the 29th we passed Chang-shoo Chin,
" the station of camphor trees," where we ob-
served a populous and well-built town. Ten
ly beyond that, at five o'clock in the evening,
we reached the mouth of the river LmrkeaTig,
which there joined the main stream, and formed
our resting-place for the day. About twenty
/y, or six miles up this small stream, lies lAn"
keangfoo, a considerable town, which our short
stay did not allow us to visit. I was sur-
prised to see so much of the banks of our
river in what might almost be styled a state
SYMPTOMS OF JEALOUS PRECAUTION. 105
of nature, growing nothing but wood. In con-
sequence, probably, of the gravelly nature of
the soil, and the liability to sudden inundations,
field and garden cultivation appeared here to
be more unfrequent than we had often observed.
It is likely that the camphor and tallow trees,
of which we saw great numbers, afford the best
return under the circumstances of soil and
situation.
The weather fortunately cleared up on the
30th, and a northerly wind sent us fast on-
ward. At five o'clock in the evening our
squadron reached Sin-kan Hien, a small walled
town of unprepossessing exterior, on the eastern
bank of the stream. The local authorities
seemed to have displayed their jealousy of
strangers by preparing our usual accommoda-
tions on the side of the river opposite to the
town ; and this was even carried so far, that
one or two of our party, who wanted a boat
to cross over, could not persuade the people
to take them. The point was not urged, as
there appeared no adequate inducement to take
the trouble ; 60 our excursions extended only
f3
106 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
to the country side of the water. I could ob-
serve to-day some little approach to the fruit
and vegetable cultivation prevailing about Can-
ton. On the sides of the river were groves
of the orange-tree, and the tops of the barren
hills were thickly planted with fir. The
stream became in some places contracted by
the encroachment of the high banks; and to
the south and south-east we could perceive
mountains rising as we advanced.
The wind increased to a gale during the
night, and agitated the water to a degree that
was far from agreeable in our light, narrow,
and mat-covered boats, knocking them against
each other in a very lively manner. After
an attempt to leave our anchorage early on
the morning of the 1st December, the squadron
soon returned to it, as the mast of the Kin-
chae's boat was sprung, and the breeze too
strong for our timid sailors. This made the
fortieth stationary day, since our landing to
the northward at the Peiho ; and in this
respect I believe we surpassed all former em-
bassies. To those who wished to enquire and
EXTREME VIGILANCE DISPLAYED. 107
observe, it was a circumstance much in our
favour ; and some of these long halts had been
productive of pleasure and amusement, as well
as instruction. " There now seemed to be
every prospect of our reaching Canton about
Christmas-day. As we approached nearer to
our destination, impatience of unnecessary
delays naturally increased.
We quitted Sin-kan Hien early, and pro-
ceeded with a fair wind and very fine weather
to another walled town, called Keakeang Hien.
Both these names indicate vicinity to the little
Keang or river on which we were sailing.
Thinking that the boats were to stop here, we
went on shore, but found all the gates of the
paltry town locked and barricaded in the most
determined manner, as if to resist a siege.
This laudable vigilance on the part of the
Hien, or magistrate of the town, was perhaps
intended to gain favour with his superiors,
mA evinced the most uncommon display of
precaution that we had hitherto met with.
The walls were not much higher than a com-
mon garden enclosure, and perhaps the good
108 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Hien's fears arose from a sense of liis weak*
ness.
The weather being so fair, and the hour still
early, our boats proceeded on their way, and
we hastened to join them. The hills rapidly
increased in number and height as we ad-
vanced ; while among them the scattered pago-
das, villages^ and plantations of trees had a
beautiful effect At a short distance from
the last named town, the boat of one of our
party suddenly struck upon a sunken rock,
and by the time that the crew could run her
ashore she completely swamped. The different
articles of baggage being removed on board
other boats, not without considerable damage
from wet, we went on again after an hour s
delay. At five o'clock we reached a place
called Foa^kovoy a hilly spot; with a military
post, but no town of any consequence. We
walked among the hills, which were here
bleak and barren, and observed a number of
deep holes or pits, around which were lying
heaps of slaty coal. It was evident that
these had been dug with the hopes of finding
KEIHGAN-FOO.
109
that mineral, and then abandoned as unprofit-
able.
We sailed very fast during the whole of the
3rd December, through a picturesque country
of hills and woods, traversed by our clear
mountain etream. We could not conveniently
manage a walk on shore, and found the mat-
tilted boats, with the thermometer at forty-four
degrees, rather uncomfortable habitations. The
evening found the squadron at Keihgan-foo,
a city of the first class on the right; and
we had just time enough to examine the town
by daylight. As frequently before observed,
the space within the walls was comparatively
desolate, abounding more in garden grounds
than streets of houses ; but the suburb was
apparently new, and well stocked with good-
looking shops. It is impossible to account for
a circumstance so often remarked in the case
of Chinese towns, except on the supposition
that the severity of the internal regulations
of their walled cities leads the industrious
classes to prefer the outside of the walls.
The readiness with which we ent««d the
110 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
gates of Keihgan-foo entirely removed the idea
that the precaution adopted for the exclusion
of the embassy at Keakeang hien, on the day
before^ was the commencement of a plan of
such absurd jealousy as we approached Can-
ton. Indeed we had always found that the
nature of our reception at different places
depended more on the character and dispo-
sition of the local authorities than on our
conductor the legate, who could not precede
us, but travelled in our company. It was at
Keihgan-foo that we saw large quantities of
the brown nankeen cloth ; having observed the
cotton of which it is manufactured some days
previous. From hence it is transported over
the Meiling pass to Canton ; and therefore does
not come from Nanking^ as its name would
seem to import, but is principally the produce
of Keangsy.
The river on the 4th December became
narrow and confined between high wooded
banks, which converted our previous shallows
into deep rapids, and called for all the exer-
tions of the boatmen to stem the stream by
SUGAR-CANE PLANTATIONS. Ill
poling and tracking, the weather being nearly
calm. As the progress was very slow, we
iliounted the banks and pursued our course
along the ridge, looking down on the numerous
squadron of boats, as they were urged forward
with immense toil by their crews. In spite
of these difficulties a good day's run (for China)
was eflfected of ninety ly; and we anchored
in the evening at Wong Kdng, a place about
twenty ly short of Taeho-hien.
At ten o'clock on the following morning
the boats passed Taeho-hien, of which the
walls were low and ruinous. On proceeding
ashore to walk, about noon, I perceived for the
first time some plantations of the sugar-cane,
so common near Canton. Here, however, the
great elevation of the land, and the higher
northern latitude (nearly twentynseven degrees),
rendered the climate less favourable, and the
canes were accordingly smaller in diameter
and less flourishing. Stopped towards night
at Yaou-taou.
Early on the 6th December we reached
Wanrgan-hien, a walled town of the third
1 12 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
order^ more populous and better built than
any that we had lately passed. This was pro-
bably owing to the advantages of its situation,
being placed where the river widens out, and
moderates the rapidity of the stream, with a
fair depth of water up to the bank. Vast
quantities of provisions were exhibited in the
streets. Our attention was drawn to a hand-
some Tsoo-tdng, or "Hall of Ancestors," one
of which exists in every considerable neighbour-
hood. In lieu of idols the niches are filled with
tablets, to the honour of those worthies of the
district who in their life-time distinguished
themselves by talent or virtue. Posthumous
admission into one of these temples is a sort
of minor apotheosis^ and reflects great honour
on the descendants, who become of course
anxious to obtain such a distinction for their
predecessors.
Having viewed the interior of this prosper-
ous town, we took a complete circuit of the
walls, walking on the top of them all the way,
as the breadth within the battlement was a
platform of several feet, ascended by stairs
HANDSOME PAELOW.
113
L at intervals. In the course of tlds tour I saw
f the handsomest Paelow or honorary gateway
I that had yet presented itself in China. It was
I eonstructed of the red sandstone of the neigh-
I bourhood, with a great deal of carving in high
\ relief. On the frieze was inscribed, " The im-
L perial will," denoting that it was erected by
I command of the sovereign. Just on the outside
\ of the walls was a new and handsome temple to
I Wun-chang ("Theglory of letters"), a minister
L of ancient times, who encouraged literature.
I We left Wan-gau^hien early on the morn-
E ing of the 7th, and after proceeding about
I eighty l^, stopped at a place called Keun-
I hm, the wind being slack, and insufficient to
I urge U8 against the rapid stream without un-
I intermitting toil. No people in the world
I except the Chinese would attempt to navigate
\ this shallow stream so near its source. We
went on shore and rambled among the nu-
merous high and steep hills, which rose in
all directions as far as the sight could reach,
I giving an uncommon character to the scenery ;
It very much as if the sea in a storm off the Cape
114 SKETCHES OP CHINA.
were to be suddenly arrested by the magician^
wand, and every mountain wave fixed solid in
its actual position. A great deal of the terrace
cultivation was to be seen in the intervals
between the hills. The upper portions of
these, which in most countries would have
been deemed perfectly incapable of any use,
were thickly planted to the very summits with
the single white camellia, called by the Chinese
Cha-^hoOy or tea-tree, and nearly allied to that
plant. As they were in full flower, they gave
to the distant hills the appearance of a light
covering of snow. From the seed of this beau-
tiful and useful plant, the Chinese prepare an
excellent vegetable oil, called by them " tea-oil,"
— Cha'yew.
At eleven o'clock on the following day we
stopped at Leang-hoWy a small town, to wait
for three of the baggage-boats left astern.
The river here, by the near approach of the
mountains with their hanging woods on each
side, became a mere torrent through the gorge
or defile, and assumed a most picturesque ap-
pearance, its clear water sparkling and rushing
EIGHTEEN RAPIDS. 115
along the rocky and gravelly bed. We had
long been told of the She-pa Tarty or "eighteen
rapids;" and before we left Wan-gdn-hieriy a
sum of money had (according to Chinese cus-
tom) been given to the captain of each boat,
to defray religious expenses in propitiating
the gods against the coming dangers.
These have been erroneously translated the
"eighteen cataracts," the word Tdn in its
derivative sense being composed of the charac-
ters that signify difficult and water — " troubled
waters," or rapids, and nothing more. Large
masses of granite jut from the bed of the
stream, which they confine in its course, and
thereby add greatly to its turbulence and the
difficulties of navigation. When the river is
several feet higher than at the time we passed
(as could plainly be seen by the state of the
banks), most of these rocks must be under
water, and thereby perhaps increase the danger.
As it was, I believe that all of our squadron
passed in safety.
When the boats astern had come up, we
set off again towards Kan-Hihow-foOy the next
116 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
large city in our course. During the whole
of the day we performed but sixty ly^ or less
than twenty miles, and stopped at night about
forty miles from Kan-chow-foOy to reach which,
in our existing straits and difficulties, was
likely to occupy two days more ! The legate
informed our ambassador that we should arrive
at Canton in about twenty days hence.
On the following morning we were witnesses
to a strange process — ^perfectly Chinese in all
its prodigality of human exertion. The river
was now so exceedingly shallow, that a line
of men stood with great iron hoes on each side
of the channel for the boats, and deepened it
by scraping aside the sand and gravel before
we could pass. The same men then put their
shoulders (not to the wheel, but) to the stems
of the boats, and actually shoved them through
by main force ! They stood at times not much
more than ankle deep in the water. It was
astonishing to think that the greater portion
of the thirty millions of pounds of tea, sold at
Canton to the English (not to include other
nations), was conveyed up this trout-stream.
MANtEUVRES OF THE LEGATE.
and down another like it on the opposite side
of the Mei-ling pass.
The maxim of the legate still seemed to be
festina lentk We stopped at a place where
there were no buildings, as early as three o'clock.
There l>eing no possibility of reaching the
city of Kan-ckow-foo before to-morrow, it
seemed probable that our conductor wished to
arrive there late in the day, and therefore
delayed us now. In our excursion on shore
we found the hills extremely barren, but still
cultivated in some places with the camelliat
as well as the tallow-tree.
At nine o'clock on the 10th of December
we passed the most dangerous of the Tan, or
rapids. These were several rocks, just level
'with the water's edge in the channel for the
boats, which was extremely narrow- At one
"o'clock we reached a part of the river where
a channel was scraped out for our boats, as
the day before, by labourers provided with
iron hoes, as well as a board with which they
removed the sand and stones. Finding some
'tame afterwards that the distance to Kan-chow-
118 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
foo was only twenty ly, or about six miles,
I left the boat and went on shore for the pur-
pose of proceeding on foot to the city along
the left side of the river. Several fields were
passed, planted with the ground nut (arachis
hypog(B(i)y known in the West Indies, and used
by the Chinese for extracting their lamp oil.
The people were busy in collecting the nuts,
and separating them from the earth by means
of sieves through which the mould was shaken.
This plant has the singular property of ripen-
ing the nut under ground, connected as it is
by a filament with the flower above.
At about five o'clock I reached the walls of
KanH^hoW'foo. These were very extensive,
and it was with more than half an hour s rapid
walking that my companion and I arrived at
the first gate, by which we entered the city.
As the day was nearly closed, there was no
judging of the place, except that the streets
were spacious, and paved with small round
stones, instead of the broad flags used at Can-
ton. On proceeding to the anchorage of our
squadron, we found that our own boat had
CITY OF KANCHO WFOO. 119
not arrived, and accordingly accepted the am-
bassador s invitation to dine with him. It was
satisfactory to learn that, as from the shallow-
ness of the river between this point and Nan-
gavrfoOi (where our navigation was to end,) it
would be necessary to change some of the
baggage boats, we should remain for a day at
this place, and have an opportunity of explor-
ing the large and important town within the
walls.
On the morning of the eleventh a party of
us took a walk through the centre of the city
to a large pagoda, near the walls on the oppo-
site side. Having mounted to the top of this,
we were fully repaid for our trouble by the
view which the summit afforded, from a height
of considerably more than one hundred feet.
The column-like building consisted of nine
stories, on an hexagonal base, and proved to be
in a higher state of repair than any that we had
yet seen. The exterior looked perfectly new,
and we were informed that it had been very
lately repaired throughout; while a tablet of
stone in the highest story recorded its having
120 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
been built in the second year of Keatsing of
the Ming dynasty, or nearly three hundred
years back. The architecture of this pagoda
was not unlike that of the "lofty and bright"
one near Yanff^choto-foo.
We afterwards went to see an extensive and
handsome hall of Confiicius, (called a Wun-
meaou, or temple of letters,) where the tablet
of the holy sage was enshrined in a recess
magnificently carved and gilt, and surrounded
by those of his successors and disciples. The
next visit was to a hall or exchange of the'
green-tea merchants, of which the principal
apartment was designated, in large gilt charac-
ters, He-chun Tang^ or the " hall of hyson
tea." Through the whole of the morning's
tour, a mandarin with a white button was
our conductor, and nothing could exceed his
civility. The city of Kanrchow-faoy the whole
circumference of whose walls we could view
from the summit of the pagoda, seemed to me
to surpass in the extent of its area any city of
which I had yet had a complete view. It was,
moreover, extremely populous, owing to the
SLOW PROGRESS OF THE BOATS. 121
extensive trade which it carries on with the
province of Fokien in tea. The northern
angle of the city is between two rivers, of
which the Tung-hOy or eastern, flows from
the frontier of Fokien, and the Sy-hOy or
western, (our future course,) from that of
Canton.
On quitting Kanchov>foo on the 12th,
we immediately found the river more shallow,
and reduced altogether in size, from the loss
of a principal tributary, the stream from the
eastward. The stoppages on account of boats
grounding were perpetual, and the whole pro-
gress so slow, that we were enabled to pass
the day on shore in walking excursions, which
terminated in our proceeding on foot to the
place of anchorage for the night, only forty
ly from Nankang foo. In the course of our
route we witnessed the process of extracting
the vegetable grease from the croton, or tallow-
tree; and likewise remarked the Tseih-shooy
or varnish shrub, from which the Chinese
extract the fluid with which they manufacture
their lacquered ware. A considerable quantity
VOL .II. G
122 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
of this ware, though not of the best, was exr
hibited at Kanchow-foo.
Two other interesting classes of objects
frequently occurred in the distance that inters
vened before we reached Nangan fooy the last
remaining city between us and the Meiling
pass. These were the sugar manufactories,
and the huge bamboo water-wheels, which
irrigate fields lying thirty feet above the level
of the river, by the motion which the stream
communicates to them. Both of these I have
fully described in another work.
On the morning of the 14th of December,
as there appeared to be some ground near the
banks adapted to cricket, a numerous party
went on shore to join in that game. The
boats moved so slowly against the shallow and
rapid stream, and the grounding was so fre-
quent, that it became an easy matter to over-
take them before night. From an apprehen-
sion, on the part of the Chinese, that the
players might be left behind, some of the
attendant boats remained, but no interruption
was made to the sport. We arrived at Nan-
NANKANG HIEN. 123
hang hien, a town of the third order, about
half-past five, and had just time before it grew
dark to walk through a portion of the interior,
which appeared small, dirty, and unworthy of
notice.
The preparations for the ambassador, how-
ever, were in better style than we had often seen
them. Besides the usual Matow^ or orna-
mented landing-place, a very handsome tent
with coloured lamps was erected on the shore,
and a polite message came from the Hien, or
governor, requesting that his excellency would
take possession of this pavilion. It was stated
that we should be three or four more days in
reaching Nangan foo.
On the 1 5th we proceeded through a beauti-
fully wooded country until four o'clock in the
afternoon, when the squadron brought up at
a considerable distance from the nearest town
Linching^ in consequence of the exhaustion of
the crews in the grievous toil of urging on
our boats through the shallows. It rained
during the whole of that night, and for the
greater part of the 16th, on which the boats
g2
124 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
continued their course until an unusually late
hour, though the opposition of the stream was
considerably augmented by the rain.
On the following day we stopped as early as
two o'clock in the afternoon, about thirty ly
short of Nangan foo, and the Kinchae paid
our ambassador a visit on board his boat.
Kwong was accompanied by the Canton lin-
guist, but as his excellency found this man
quite unintelligible, he requested me to be the
medium of communication. The Kinchae
said that the cause of our stopping thus early,
was the circumstance of several boats having
been left behind. He added, that our un-
usually successful day's work yesterday was
the consequence of the fall of rain, by which
the depth of water had been considerably
augmented. This was a curious reason, and
described in the most striking manner the
nature of our navigation, along a stream so
shallow that it could be sensibly increased by
a few hours' rain. The conversation proceeded
on indifferent subjects until the legate rose up
to go to his dinner.
HALT AT NANGAN POO. I'25
We were destined on the 18th of December
to see the nc plv^ ultra of this extraordinary
navigation, when the stream was in some
places not larger than a brook that in England
would turn a mill. With this character the
river wound and twisted itself among very
high hills on each side, covered with small tirs,
intermingled with which somelinies appeared
a species of the Indian fig, or banyan. The
wet and cold weather prevented any enjoy-
ment of the open air ; and we were glad when
the boats, on rounding a projecting point,
brought us at once into a suburb of Nangan
foo, situated in a valley formed by the moun-
tains receding on the right and left. The
ambassador's boat hauled up to a landing-place
with a temporary building for his accommodar-
tion. In walking through the city, we found
it divided into two separate walled portions,
between which the river flows down, while
the banks are joined by a mean bridge of tim-
bers supported with piers of stone. On
mounting a hill, at the top of which was a
small pyramidal tower, (erected mei-ely for the
126 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
sake of foong shuey, or good luck,) we had a
bird's-eye view of the double town, which
looked poor and wretched, notwithstanding its
position in the high road of the pass. Arrange-
ments were made for our baggage to cross the
mountain on the next day, and for ourselves
to follow on the day after.
The morning of the 19th was employed in
preparing all things to leave the boats ; after
which some of us walked to the Koongkwdn,
or house on shore intended for us, which
proved so vile a place that it was infinitely
preferable to pass the remaining night on
board the boats. We were not induced to
occupy these quarters, even by the figures of
the two "gods of the doorway,'* which were
conspicuously exhibited on the gates. The
legend concerning these states that Shin-too
and Yoh'leo were two brothers who inhabited
an island in the eastern sea. They lived under
a peach-tree, and exercised a control over
malign spirits. The ancient king, Hwong-'tyy
erected a gate of peach-tree wood, on which he
painted the likeness of these two genii or gods.
PREPARATION FOR LAND JOURNEY. 127
as a safeguard against Kweiy or evil demons —
a practice which continues to the present day
through China. As Europeans are called
Kwei at Canton, our Chinese friends might
have thought that the " gods of the doorway "
prevented our occupying the abode in question.
I was surprised to read the names " Deguignes'*
and "d'Ozy, 1795," cut upon the wooden panels
of this house, proving that the Dutch embassy
was lodged here, and that the place had never
been altered since.
An immense number of porters (said to ex-
ceed two thousand) was assembled for carrying
the baggage and presents of the embassy, which
were certainly none of the fewest or smallest,
some cases measuring ten feet square, and re-
quiring forty men to carry them. The greatest
care was taken to prevent confusion, by label-
ling every thing in Chinese and English. At
four o'clock on the following morning, long
before daylight, we were all up and stirring to
commence our day's journey through the Meiling
pass, a total distance of about thirty miles. The
light of the twisted pine torches, used by the
128 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Chinese, gave a picturesque effect to the whole
scene. At half-past six, a party of us, mounted
on the small horses of the country, commenced
our journey, an hour or two before the am-
bassador and second commissioner, who pro-
ceeded in chairs. Mine was a tolerable nag,
but I could not quite apply to him the Chinese
description of a good horse, that " he ascends
a hill like level ground, and crosses the water
like a floating bridge."
At the commencement of our march, as we
quitted the town, a long line of soldiers was
drawn out under arms, with the usual salute
in passing. We soon reached the bottom of
the ascent, where we dismounted and began
to walk up. Here commenced the paved gra-
nite road which continues through the pass
uninterrupted to Nan-heungfoo on the Canton
side — ^a really fine public work, to be classed
among the best and most useful in China. As
we gradually approached the summit of the
ridge, where the rock is cut down to the depth
of twenty-five or thirty feet, with a breadth
of about twenty, the view burst upon us in
CROSS THE MEILING PASS.
139
full grandeur, and displayed some mountain
scenery perhaps nowhere surpassed.
The descent into the plain on the Kwang-
tung or Canton side was at first steep and
winding, but afterwards comparatively easy. I
observed the Met skoo, a species of Prunus in
flower, being that from which the pass derives
its name Meiling, " the mountain ridge of the
mei flower." It was evident, from two cir-
cumstances, that the paved road across the
mountain had not been made for wheel car-
riages. There was not, in the first place, suf-
ficient breadth for two carriages to pass each
other ; and about the steepest parts of the
ascent the road was cut in steps, which pre-
cluded the possibility of using wheels upon it.
From an ancient inscription at the summit of
the road, it appears that this work was efiFected
by a person who lived under the Tang dynasty,
in the ninth century of our era.
Some time after clearing the pass, we ar-
rived at a place called Ckoong-cken, "the middle
halting-place," or halfway-house. Here we
were invited to dismount, and being conducted
g3
130 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
into the interior of a very respectable Koong-
kwdn through the outer court, were agreeably
surprised to see an excellent Chinese repast
laid out for the refreshment and entertainment
of the whole party, as they successively arrived.
Our previous experience of Chinese hospitality
had led to the precautionary measure of con-
veying provisions on the march; but, as the
weather was extremely sharp on these heights,
a cold luncheon was well exchanged for the
really comfortable warm repast, k la Chinoise,
which here greeted the embassy, forming a
strange contrast, after our quarrel with the
emperor, to the vile and insulting feed which,
on the night of the 28th of August, had been
presented to the embassy when on the high
road to the imperial presence ! It was quite
clear that all the liberal treatment that we
received in China was subsequent to the rejec-
tion of the mission.
A remarkable difference was observed, on
first entering the Canton province, in the
uniforms of the soldiers. These had inva-
riably been blue edged with red, throughout
REACH CANTON PKOVINCE.
131
the whole empire to this frontier— from Peking
to the Meiling pass. No sooner, however, had
we reached the l>order8 of Kwangtung, than
the dress of the military became red edged
with white ; and, on one or two occasions, when
their cavalry turned out for us, white edged
with red. The display of troops was more-
over much more frequent on the Canton side
than we had before observed it. At every four
or five miles was a military station ; and just
before we entered the frontier city JVanheung
foo, not less than three hundred cavalry,
matchlock men and archers, were drawn up
on the two sides of the road. In no instance
throughout the country did we ever see a line
of soldiers two deep. Canton not being upon
the whole a wealthier province than some that
we had passed through (as Keangnhi), it was
reasonable to conclude that the extra display
of military array was for the express purpose
of awing the European barbarians, and show-
ing them what they had to expect if they mis-
behaved at Canton,
When the steepest part of the declivity had
132 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
been passed, we found ourselves on an irregular
plain, still maintaining a gentle descent in the
direction of the city which we approached. At
the distance of about seventy ly, or twenty
miles from the pass, we entered the suburbs of
Nanheung foo, an important city, vastly ex-
celling the town which had just been quitted
on the north of the mountain. All the signs
of a public entry were here displayed ; among
the rest we observed red hangings of silk or
cloth, stretched across the streets at certain
distances. After passing a long suburb we
entered a gate in the wall, and traversed the
whole length of the city to the side adjoining
the river on which we were to embark — a dis-
tance of not less than two English miles.
The embassy was ushered to a very respect-
able Koongkwdn, much superior to the one
we had so long occupied at Tongchow, near
Peking. His lordship was received at the gate
with military honors ; and here it was settled
that our whole party should spend at least one
day, while the new boats were loading for our
reception.
133
CHAPTER XV.
Prepare to quit Nanheung foo — ^notice of the Meaoutse —
their independence — ^kiU a Chinese general — account of
Chinese victory — defeated by Meaoutse — end of war —
progress through wooded country — arrival at Chaouchuw
foo — deeper river and larger boats — different behaviour
of people — rock of Kwdnyin — narrow pass in river —
town of Tsing yven hien — commencement of flat country
— approach Canton — arrive there — reflections.
The lodgings provided for us by the Chinese
in the town were, for the first time, of such
a description as not to make us wish for the
boats fti preference. The barks, indeed, which
were to convey us along the upper portion of
the stream were, from the necessity of the case,
extremely wretched. Any thing intended to
float in the rivulety or at most trout stream,
what we must navigate for the first few days,
could only draw a few inches water. The boats
provided for the ambassador and commissioners
were rather better than the remainder; but
134 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
these were merely the cargo boats used in float-
ing the tea down after it has crossed the Meiling
pass. They had nothing but mat covers tilted
over them, and were altogether without par-
titions fore and aft — what they call on board
ship " clear for action."
Fortunately, however, our journey to Chaou-
chow foOy the place of transhipment, could
only last three or four days ; and the weather,
though very cold (below forty degrees), was
bright and clear as a winter in Italy.
The legate sent a message, on the morning
of the 2l8t of December, expressing his anxiety
to depart with all speed, as the river was be-
coming every day more shallow from the con-
tinuance of dry weather, and likely soon to be
unnavigable even to Chinese. This is con-
stantly the cause of detention to the supplies
of tea on their way to Canton. A civil offer
from the Kinchae was as surprising as it was
unexpected. He proposed to forward letters
to our friends at Canton, where we should pro-
bably arrive in twenty days; a proposal that
was gladly accepted.
PREPARE TO QUIT NANHEUNG FOO. 135
A Chinese entertainment in very good style
was served up in the Koongkwdn, forming by
no means a disagreeable change from our every
day routine. A party some time afterwards
proceeded to the bridge which crosses the river,
for the purpose of examining a pair of guns
stationed at the guard-house. While peace-
ably engaged in viewing these, one of tlie in-
ferior mandarins at the station displayed a
disposition to be insolent and troublesome ;
but he became sufficiently quiet on its being
gently hinted to him that he might possibly
be taken by the tail before the legate. The
guns were evidently some whieh had been cast
by the Jesuits ; they were three or four pound-
ers, with Chinese characters stamped on them.
In the evening we all escorted the ambassador
to his boat, accompanied by the guard ; on
which occasion some Chinese music struck up,
and the usual salute of three guns was fired.
Before quitting the city of Nanheung foo,
I must notice its vicinity to a very singulai-
race of people, the mountaineers, called Meaovr
tse, who for ages have continued independent.
136 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
and proved very troublesome to the Chinese
government. They inhabit principally that
line of mountains which bounds the province
of Kweichow to the south ; but a considerable
portion extend to the north-west boundary of
the Canton province, close to the city Ijien-
chaw. These last, as late as the year 1832,
defeated the viceroy of Canton, and killed above
two thousand of the Chinese forces ; and it is
generally supposed that they were never effec-
tually chastised. The Jesuit, P^re Parennin,
in the Lettres edifiantes et curieuseSy gives a
very correct account of these singular moun-
taineers, and of the policy which the Chinese
adopt towards them. As we are now at war
with the empire, every part of the military
system of that country becomes in some mea-
sure interesting. Having never been able
effectually to subdue the Meaoutse by arms,
the government, to keep them in check, has
erected towns and forts at the feet of the passes
by which they were accustomed to descend
and ravage the plains. This does not prevent
their irruptions, of which accounts are imme-
NOTICE OF THE MEAOUTSE. 137
diately transmitted to Peking, and there spoken
of as rebellion and revolt — the names given to
every act of hostility against the emperor on
the part of even independent nations.
Edicts are immediately issued to the viceroys
of the neighbouring provinces, ordering them
to levy troops and chastise the rebels, or rob-
bers, or dogmen, according as it may please
the Peking government to style them, this
mode of abuse being usual towards an enemy.
Some troops are accordingly marched to the
neighbourhood of those hilly forests which are
the abodes of the Meaoutse; but these in
their natural strongholds are more than a
match for the Chinese troops, who do not ven-
ture to intrude too far. In the mean while,
some unfortunate stragglers are. caught and
put to death, and a report is made to Peking
that the victory is complete, and that the
rebels have been destroyed in their most secret
recesses. Rewards are accordingly proposed
for the most deserving officers and soldiers.
In the year 1832, the Meaoutse, or, as they
are there called, the Yaou-jin of JLien skan.
138 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
(which are the mountains near Lien-chow in
Canton province,) set up a leader whom they
styled the "golden dragon/* This person
assumed the insignia of Chinese royalty, a
yellow upper dress, with the title of TVongy or
king. The progress of the Yaou-jin was very
rapid, and they possessed themselves of four
considerable towns. They warred only against
the Chinese military, not molesting such of
the people as were not found in arms against
them. A Tartar general named Hae-ling^ak
fell into a snare which they laid for him, and
was killed with about twenty other oflBicers,
and a great many soldiers ; while the guns, &c.,
were captured. A reinforcement of a thou-
sand men being sent from Canton to the
neighbourhood of Lien-choWy two hundred of
these were sent back, as being quite unfitted
for service by the use of opium. In a ren-
counter with the Yaou-jin the Chinese force
was again defeated, with a loss of two thou-
sand men.
At length a Peking gazette, dated in May
1838, contained an account of a great victory
THEIR INDEPENDENCE. 139
gained over the mountaineers on the north
side of the Lien-shAn, i. e. in Hoondn province.
" The rebels having invaded the level country,
and taken a small town named Pingtseuen,
our troops attacked them on all sides, and pre-
vented their escape into Canton province.
The rebels, however, still kept possession of
the town, from the walls of which they fired
on and greatly harassed our troops, until
about forty of the latter advanced under cover
of their shields, and leaped on the walls. At
the first onset they were thrown back and
several wounded ; but they rallied, and more
troops coming forward to support them, again
mounted the walls, and cut down above a thou-
sand of the enemy. The rest of the rebels
then feigned to offer submission ; but Lo'Sze-
kea (the commander-in-chief) refused it, and
placing two divisions on the north and west
sides of the town to prevent escape, he himself
advanced on the south and east sides. A
cannonade was opened on the town, and fire-
balls thrown in among the rebels, by means of
which many were killed.
140 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
" But they still continued to return our fire ;
the troops, therefore, made a sudden rush
among them, killed about a thousand^ and took
several of their chiefs prisoners. They, how-
ever, succeeded in closing the gates on us.
Lo'Sze-keu urged a more vigorous attack ; our
men rushed forward, fearless of danger, and
the rebels were routed, but maintained a run-
ning fight, until coming between two bodies
of our troops, they were slain to the number
of two or three thousand. Among prisoners
taken were two sons of Chaou-kinloongy (" the
golden dragon,") besides inferior persons. Ten
cannon, and above three thousand small arms,
were also taken."
The Yaou-jin, being worsted in Hoondn,
descended on the other side of the Lien-sMn
into Canton province. The viceroy (called by
the English governor Le) repaired to the
scene of action with reinforcements. The
Chinese army endeavoured to enter the moun-
tains at five different passes, but were repulsed
with great loss, and as many as eighty oflBicers
were killed. In extenuation of the defeat, the
END OF THE WAR. 141
difficulties of the country, and the mode of
warfare adopted by the Yaou-jin, were pleaded;
in particular the explosion of a mine of gun-
powder. Governor Le was, however, dis-
graced, and not only deprived of his govern-
ment at Canton, but condemned to pay a third
of the expenses of the warfare, and banished to
western Tartary.
After the lapse of some time, the surprising
rumour was heard that the formidable Yaou-jin
were entirely subdued, and that the war was
at an end. A paper, however, (for its boldness
a most singular document,) was written by one
of the civil or literary class of the Chinese,
representing the submission of the moun-
taineers as an entire deception, and the con-
duct of the emperor s brother-in-law (a com-
missioner on the occasion) an imposition on
the Court. He stated that the commissioner
gave half a million of taels for a sham surren-
der of the Yaou-jin, and that titles of distinc-
tion were granted to some of the leading men
among them. It was added that the moun-
taineers still continued in some degree their
142 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
depredations on the plains, though the local
Chinese officers dissembled the fact. If only
one half of these circumstances were true, they
present a strange picture of Chinese weakness.
It is certainly in intrigue and negociation
that they are chiefly redoubtable, and not in
arms.
To return to our journey. On the morning
of the 22nd of December, the Kinchae started
from Nanheung foo, nothing doubting that
we should follow. In this, however, he was
mistaken. Such a total disregard had been shown
by the Chinese officers to the accommodation of
the boats, and even to the furnishing our neces-
sary supplies, that the ambassador insisted on the
squadron remaining until this object was ac-
complished. Some little demur was evinced
by the boatmen to obey this order, but they
yielded when they saw preparations to compel
them.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the diffisr-
ent boats had all received their supplies, and
the signal was made on board the ambassador s
boat to advance, when the whole fleet got
PROGRESS OF OUR JOURNEY. 143
under way. This determined step was the
more requisite, as the Chinese had not only
omitted to supply us themselves, but had sent
on ahead our baggage-boats, from whence the
deficiencies might in some measure have been
made good. Very little progress was made
this day, in consequence of the extreme shal-
lowness of the stream causing the boats to
ground constantly. The country was flat
and uninteresting, with sandy banks, whose
appearance proved that during rainy periods
the stream is much broader and deeper than
we saw it.
The boatmen continued their exertions
during the night, to further our progress,
and overtake the Kinchae. On the morning
of the 23rd I got on shore, and took advantage
of our slow pace to make an excursion along
the banks. It was a pleasant fertile country
near the river, but in the distance to our right
were some high and barren mountains, which
could not be far from the Lien-shdrii the
abodes of the fierce Yaou-jiuy " the dogmen,*'
or " wolfmen," whose exploits have been just
144 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
noticed. We stopped early in the afternoon,
as the ambassador's boat, from its superior
size, was far astern, and impeded by the shal-
lows.
Our progress on the 24th was through a
very picturesque hilly country, presenting in
general a wild scenery. The course from
Nanheung foo had been hitherto much to the
westward of south, carrying us nearer to Lien-
chow than we were before. Our travels
through this part of China certainly tended
to establish one fact, namely, that the old
European accounts of the universal cultivation
of the country had been very absurdly exagger-
ated. It must be admitted, however, that the
Chinese made a good use of the barren hills
in this neighbourhood, by planting them
thickly with firs, the timber of which is floated
down the river towards Canton in immense
rafts, on which are built houses, forming the
dwellings of whole families.
About noon on the 25th December we passed
some very remarkable rocky cliffs near the
river, the most conspicuous of which so greatly
ARRIVAL AT CHAOUCHOWFOO. 145
impended over its base as to threaten destruc-
tion to whatever passed under it. These are
called by the Chinese Woo Matowy not the
" Five horses' heads," (which is the literal
meaning,) but the " Five piers, or jetties," from
a supposed resemblance to those landing-places
for their boats which they call Matow. These
rocks were above five hundred feet in height,
and crowned partly with wood. The rugged
sides occasionally narrowed and deepened the
river by their approach, but in broader places
the stream was still very shallow, and my
own frail bark, once getting aground on the
loose pebbly bottom, sprung a serious leak
which was stopped with some trouble. For the
purpose of more speedily closing an accidental
leak, these boats had scarcely any flooring or
deck to them.
At other times, when close to the bases of
the perpendicular cliflfs, the water was ten or
twelve feet deep ; and our speed during these
intervals made up in some measure for the ob-
stacles elsewhere. Early in the afternoon we
reached ChaouchowfoOy a principal city of Can-
VOL. II. H
146 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
ton province. It was situated on the right
bank of the river, just above its confluence
with the Sy^hos or " western stream," which
here combines to give a depth of water adequate
to all purposes of navigation. The city no
doubt derives its size and consequence from the
circumstances of its situation. Soon after land-
ing, some of our party endeavoured to cross the
river and penetrate into the town; but per-
ceived that, as soon as they approached, all the
boats moved away from the shore. A bridge
of boats, connected by a chain> appeared to
have been purposely divided in the middle to
prevent our passage. My curiosity concerning
Chinese towns, after having visited so many,
was now pretty nearly satisfied, and I therefore
took no further pains about the matter; but
some of us contrived to make their way in,
and reported that it did not yield to any town
that we had yet seen in the country.
Being no longer restricted as to the size of
our conveyances, we found, upon our arrival,
the new and larger boats intended to carry the
embassy on to Canton. It appeared, however.
DIFFERENT BEHAVIOUH OF PEOPLE. 147
upon examination, that these were all exactly
alike, and each of them surmounted with a
similar flag, inscribed Koongchuen, " tribute-
boats," without the distinguishing marks that
had always belonged to the ambassador and
commissioners. On the other hand, the Kin-
cJiae we found, on inquiry, had contrived to be
accommodated with a most elegant floating
vehicle, carved and gilded quantum suff. When
the proper remonstrances were made, we re-
ceived for answer that the deputy-governor of
Canton had sent his own barge for the com-
niiasioner. This might be all very well; but the
ambassador still desired to be furnished with a
respectable boat, which at length was procured,
with two others for the commissioners. These
barges were indeed by far the most commo-
dious of any that we had met with, and
the aspect of the interior was rich and hand-
some.
The people at this place were excessively in-
solent, proving our approach to the vicious
capital of the province. Canton. Some of
them were chastised with a stick, and even a
148 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
mandarin of the rank of Hien ran a narrow-
risk of being ducked in the river. The ambas-
sador and a party of us celebrated Christmas
day in the third commissioner s boat, and it
was with no small gratification we reflected
that another week would remove us from the
hospitality of the " celestials."
We were detained during the 26th at our
anchorage, on account of loading the new
boats. The extreme negligence, whether acci-
dental or studied, of the local oflSicers as we
approached Canton was remarkable, and re-
quired some trouble to , remedy it. They ab-
sented themselves from us (contrary to the
practice of all those with whom we had been
concerned), and left everything to subordinates,
in consequence of which we ran some chance
of wanting both assistance and supplies. A
written remonstrance to the Kinchae had the
effect of flapping the ears of our Laputans, and
bringing them to their recollection. Some of
the beautifully bright and moderately cold
weather, so common in a Canton winter, made
amends for the conduct of our Chinese friends.
RAPIDITY OF PROGRESS. 149
and was improved by the junior portion of the
embassy to a game at cricket on shore.
When we left the neighbourhood of the city
early on the morning of the 27th December, and
passed the junction of the two rivers just below
the termination of the walls, the rapidity of
our progress was an agreeable change which
reminded some of the party of their approach to
Canton. Our boats were provided with the
great sculls abaft, which are so efficient in the
river navigation at that place ; and in addition
to these the men helped us on lustily with
their long bamboo poles, while the stream it-
self ran at the rate of three miles an hour.
Another symptom of Canton appeared in the
long narrow guard-boats, rowed by eighteen
or twenty men, with a swivel gun in the front
of several. Whatever may be said about the
indifierence or repugnance of the Chinese as to
copying foreigners, I am persuaded that the
superior efficiency of many things of the iiind
at Canton, compared with the north and the
interior, is owing greatly to hints furnished by
our example to them.
ISO SKETCHES OF CHINA.
We sailed along an interesting country of
hills and rocks well wooded, the channel of the
river sometimes flowing through an extensive
valley, and at others straitened between lofty
and projecting banks, where it bore a considei^
able resemblance to the Rhine in the upper
parts of its course. The hills that were not
occupied by forest trees were occasionally
planted with the Camellia oleifera. Some of
our party observed, for the first and only time
in the south of China, a boat with the fishing
pelicans on board.
With reference to our approaching arrival
at Canton, the ambassador, by the advice of
the second commissioner, came to the resolu-
tion that the mission should land in state, as
the effect of its public appearance there was a
matter of some consequence, and the possession
of our own crews and boats would enable it to
make a very different figure from that which it
possessed under Chinese tutelage. The Kin-
chae had given us to understand that a koong-
kwan, or public residence, was prepared by the
government for the embassy's reception; a
I
ROCK OF KWANYIN. 151
satisfactory circumstance in itself, for though
his excellency and suite would have been infi-
nitely better lodged in the British factorj', the
offer on the part of the government proved its
desire to preserve a friendly aspect towards us ;
and this was as much as any embassy, with all
possible compliances, had ever been able to
obtain.
AVe knew from our position on the map that
the famous rock and cavern containing a tem-
ple, and called Kwan-yin shdn, could not be
far distant. The desire of our whole party to
inspect a place which had been so eloquently
described by the pen of Lord Macartney, was
accordingly made known to the Kinckae, our
conductor. At about eight o'clock on the
morning of the 28th December the squadron
of boats was stopped purposely by the legate's
order, in front of the huge precipitous lime-
stone rock in which the caverns are situated.
The height of the rock itself could not be
under five hundred feet, rising abruptly from
the river, with deep water close up to it. The
natural fissures had been enlarged by art, and
152 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
steps were cut from the level of the river, lead-
ing to what might be styled the basement floor.
An interior flight of steps, also cut out of the
native limestone, led to a second cavern over-
head, the height of which above the water was
estimated at about a hundred feet. A native
Chinese drawing in my possession very fairly
represents the external appearance of this sin-
gular place, as seen from the river.
Over the natural fissure in the rock, which
formed the window of the upper story, hung
an immense mass of a stalactitic appearance,
perhaps formed by the percolation through the
limestone of water charged with carbonic acid.
This, and other overhanging portions of the
black and dismal cliflf, seemed to threaten de-
struction to all who entered from below. The
shaven priests received us politely at the foot
of the steps, and conducted us to the pene-
tralia of the temple, dedicated to the goddess
Kwan-yin. This deity belongs to the Budhist
religion, and though she has sometimes a place
in the temples dedicated to the Trimurti, or
Triad, we often found her monopolising, as in
ROCK OF KWANYIN. 153
the present case, an altar entirely to herself.
As intercessor for the sins of mortals, (under
the title of " the most merciful goddess,") she
resembles in some degree the " queen of heaven*'
in the Romish worship.
The two Canton linguists, who had accom-
panied the embassy from Peking by the empe-
ror's orders, performed their devotions by
knocking head before the idol ; while we were
contented with making an oflfering to the tem-
ple, in return for the civilities of the priests.
The curiosity of the party being gratified, we
were glad to emerge from this living burial-
place into light and air, and to rejoin the
boats. The wind became so violent soon
afterwards, that apprehensions were enter-
tained by the Chinese as to proceeding, and at
length an accident to the Kinchae^s boat, by
striking on a rock, brought the whole fleet to
a stop, and obliged our conductor to change
into another vessel.
He took occasion of this delay to visit the
ambassador, and renewed all his civil speeches ;
adding that a particular order from the em-
h3
154 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
peror had remitted the duties on the Indiaman
in which the presents had come laden. We
were glad to proceed on our journey after a
few hours' stoppage, but did not advance above
thirty ly further, before we anchored for the
night opposite to Ying-tS Men, a small walled
town, with a shabby modern pagoda near it,
but a handsomer one upon our own side of the
river.
On the morning of the 29th we got under
way with a strong north-east monsoon, and
sailed along the valley in which the town of
Ying-tS Men is situated, amidst fertile and well
cultivated lands. Not more than thirty ly had
been accomplished, when we approached a part
of the river where the projection of the high
rocky banks on either side formed a narrow
gorge, through which the wind, before suffi-
ciently strong, blew with a degree of violence
which daunted our Chinese navigators, and
caused the whole squadron to anchor early in the
day near a sandy bank on the hither side of the
pass. On our left was a thick and extensive grove
of bamboos, which, being in fact a gigantic grass.
GROVE OF BAMBOOS. 155
might be compared to a meadow in Brobding-
nag just ready for the scythe. The stem of the
bamboo, like other grasses, dies as soon as it
has flowered. It is cut down periodically by
the Chinese, at different stages of its growth,
according to the uses intended. ITie bamboo
poles, on which two of the Chinese coolies, or
porters, carry about 150 lbs. between them,
measure four or five inches in diameter.
At daylight on the 30th December we left
our anchorage with a moderate breeze, and
threaded the narrow defile which the boisterous
weather of the preceding day had forbade our
encountering. The river soon widened out
considerably, but continued to wind occasionally
between high hills at a little distance. About
noon I left the boat to walk on shore, among
plantations of sugar-cane, and rice fields which
at this season exhibited nothing but the ground
prepared for the reception of the seed or plants.
Soon after I had returned to the boats, they
passed another very beautiful channel, between
lofty hills, completely covered with hanging
woods of a noble growth. These were destined
156 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
to be the last of the wild mountain and forest
scenery, of which we had observed so much
since entering the Canton province.
Those persons who have never gone beyond
the city of Canton are apt to imagine that the
flat and fertile scenery, which they view around
them, is a mere sample of the character and
condition of the whole province; whereas it
extends but a comparatively short distance up
the river, and changes (in the neighbourhood
of Tsing-yuen-hien) into a mountainous and
thinly-peopled country, which is the general
character of the Canton province, taken in
the gross. The Chinese history speaks of the
aborigines of this wild region under the name
of Mdn^ who within a comparatively recent
period were subdued and incorporated into the
"Middle Nation." Many persons have re-
marked a decidedly Malay cast in the features
of the natives of this province ; and it is highly
probable that the Canton and Fokien people
were originally the same race as the tribes
which still remain unreclaimed on the east side
of Formosa.
TOWN OF TSING-YUEN-HIEN. 157
In the evening we reached Tsing-yuen-hieni
a walled town, situated on a sandy flat at the
commencement of the alluvial country. Here
our boats were anchored on the side of the
river opposite to the town, according to the
practice which had lately been adopted. The
atmosphere of Canton jealousy and precaution
seemed already to surround us; but our curi-
osity had now been satisfied to the full, during
the long inland travels which were here fast
approaching to their termination. The town
of Tsing-'yuen-hien extended, with its suburbs,
to a considerable distance along the bank of
the river, and had a populous and flourishing
appearance. Two pagodas were distinguish-
able, one close to the town, and another, con-
siderably larger, some way down the stream.
The hour being late, we did not trouble
our Chinese friends with a visit across the
water, but were contented with a walk
through a fine grove of bamboos into the
adjoining country, which was interspersed with
farms situated amidst rice-grounds, reminding
us of the familiar features of Canton scenery.
158 SKETCHES OP CHINA.
One of the peculiar boasts of this southern
portion of the province is its rice cultivation,
said to be the finest in the empire, and extend-
ing over the vast flat through which the in-
numerable channels of the river find their way
into the sea. Almost every considerable vil-
lage which we passed in our course had a sub-
stantial square-looking building of brick, which
served as a depository for the grain not required
for immediate consumption.
On the 31st December we held our course
along the widening river, which flowed through
a country that grew more flat as we advanced.
Around us were low sandy islands and banks,
which from their naked appearance were in-
capable of cultivation, and occasionally flooded
by water. I took an excursion on shore, which
could not be otherwise than pleasant in the
delightful climate for which this country is
remarkable during the months that intervene
between November and April. Here, for the
first time in the course of our travels, my ears
were greeted with the sounds so frequent and
familiar at Canton, Fdnkwei and Hoong-maou,
"THE HIEN OP THREE STREAMS." 159
" Foreign devil/' and " Rufus," — without hav-
ing the slightest personal claims to the last
distinction, however indisputable my title to
the first.
Late in the evening we reached San-shuey-
hieriy " the hien of three streams/' as it stands
at the union of three watery channels. Here
was at first some appearance of stopping for the
night ; but the word was presently given to pro-
ceed, in order that we might secure the passage
of a shoal at the next high tide. This gave
general satisfaction, as it insured our arrival
at Canton on the following day, after an
absence of nearly six months from all the
means of obtaining news from England, — to
which may be added, that our protracted stay
in the interior of the empire had rather tired
us of our Chinese life, than reconciled us to
it. At the same time, I believe there was not
one of the party but was well content to have
purchased such rare opportunities of observa-
tion and enquiry, at the expense of some per-
sonal discomfort, and occasionally not a little
mental irritation.
160 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
New-year 8 day seemed as if it dawned for
the purpose of welcoming the return of our
embassy to Canton. The boats proceeded at a
rapid pace during the whole night of the 31st;
and at nine o'clock in the morning of the 1st
January we were not twenty miles from the
city. The familiar scenery of that place here
commenced. The river sides were planted
with orange-trees, plantains, and lychees;
while nothing but rice-fields appeared inland.
The clear water of the stream on which we
had sailed began now to assume a turbid ap-
pearance, and to increase greatly both in depth
and breadth. At length those who were look-
ing out ahead descried the ambassador's barge,
bearing the royal standard, and sweeping along
towards us at a rapid pace. This was soon
followed by a numerous procession of boats
in two lines from all the British ships, with
their crews in uniform. The American con-
sul and some other foreigners came likewise
to welcome his lordship's arrival ; and the day
was concluded with a splendid banquet at the
British Factory.
OPINIONS AT CANTON. 161
It was, I believe, a general sentiment at
Canton, that the resistance made by the em-
bassy to the haughty conduct of the Peking
court was the best possible result that could
have been obtained ; and that the mere recep-
tion, followed by the supercilious dismissal of
the mission, would have been far too dearly pur-
chased by compliances which a former British
ambassador very wisely refused. The impression
produced by the spirit and firmness which had
just been displayed, even under the personal
frown of the despot, continued long to exercise
its influence at Canton ; and if such temerity
in foreigners surprised the ignorant Chinese,
it was at the same time calculated to remove
some portion of their silly prepossessions con-
cerning the universal supremacy of the celes-
tial empire. The effects, at least, were visible
in the rapid increase of our valuable intercourse
with Canton; until the destruction, in 1834,
of a prosperous system of two hundred years'
standing, entailed those unfortunate collisions
which lately drove the British trade from a
162 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
port where it had long enjoyed an uncon-
tested superiority over that of all other nations.
Whatever may be the ultimate results of
the hostilities in which we are now embarked^
it is certain that for a considerable time, at
least, expenditure must be substituted for re-
venue — national loss for national profit — ^to
which must be added the multiplied chances
of being embroiled in critical discussions with
other nations, whose respect for the rights
of a belligerent power may grow impatient
under the continued privation of a valuable
trade. It is certain, however, that the de-
graded condition to which foreigners have
been reduced at Canton since the administra-
tion of the Commissioner Lin, is calculated to
make the more respectable, even among the
Americans, partisans in the common cause of
civilised right against barbarian assumption.
It is extremely to be lamented that things
should ever have been brought to such a pass,
and by such a sudden wrench; but the die
being once cast, there never was a better
opportunity for trying, at least, what can be
REFLECTIONS. 163
done towards improving the condition of our
intercourse with China.
It may convey some idea of the slowness of
Chinese travelling to observe, in concluding
this chapter, that the average rate of our pro-
gress from Peking to Canton, including stop-
pages, was only ten miles a day, or considerably
less than half a mile an hour — that is, not the
fftieth part of the ordinary rail-road speed.
The latter would "put a girdle round about
the earth" in forty days; the former creep
round in little less than seven years !
164
CHAPTER XVI.
Canton and its neighbourhood — ^harbours outside — difficul-
ties of blockade — Bogue forts — river — city walls — Macao
— held from Chinese — described — a Chinese governor —
as well as Portuguese — population — chiefly Chinese —
English and other Europeans — resident by Chinese order
— Portuguese embassies — Saldanha — Metello — Sampayo
•:— French ship i4wip^7n^e— piracies of Portuguese — their
ambassador put to death.
Whatever may be the objects and results
of schemes of warfare or occupation in other
parts of China^ Canton must, for a consider-
able time at least, be the point to which, from
ancient habit, long establishment, and the
advantages of personal experience and know-
ledge, the principal views of European and
American merchants will be directed, until
experimental enterprise has laid open and led
the way to new ports. The fate of that old
emporium in the pending contest becomes,
therefore, a point of the highest interest.
CANTON AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 165
Apart from some peculiar disadvantages^ of
which the principal are its position at the
southern extremity of the whole empire, at
the greatest distance from the metropolis, and
in a climate unsuited to the consumption of
English manufactures. Canton is favoured by
being placed on one of the finest and most
commodious navigable rivers in the world.
A particular account of this river, of the
islands and principal anchorages in its neigh-
bourhood, and of the means of defence which
it seems to possess, will be read with some
interest at the present time, when the public
prints contain accounts of important naval
transactions, and of movements from one place
to another, whose names and localities are
generally unknown.
From Macao to the Boca Tigris, or true
entrance of the river, is just forty miles,
affording a very safe channel for the largest
ships. Admiral Drury's ship of the line went
up even to Whampoa, without any difficulty.
As far as the Boca, or Bogue, the whole is
a broad estuary of the sea, interspersed with
166 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
islands^ of which the well-known Lintin lies
just midway between Macao and the Bogue.
Liintin is on the right of the channel for ships,
and just abreast of it on the left is Lankeet
island, forming behind it the harbour of Kum-
sing-moan, where the opium ships of late
years were accustomed to lie at anchor in
safety.
About five miles south-west of Lintin an-
chorage is Toon-koo, a safe harbour for large
ships, formed between an island of that name
and the main land. It was here that the fleet
of the East India Company was anchored
during several discussions with the Chinese
government, until the settlement of difficulties
admitted of their entering the port of Canton.
Farther to the south-west, and nearly in the
parallel of Macao (being about thirty miles
due east of that place), is the harbour or
anchorage of Hong-kong, so long the ren-
dezvous of the English fleet in 1839. These
all afford security to ships in bad weather,
'and with the excellent surveys that have been
made of the whole coast of the Canton pro-
DIFFICULTIES OF BLOCKADE. 167
vince, are calculated greatly to facilitate the
naval operations in that quarter.
There is no entrance to the Canton river
to the eastward of the Boca Tigris ; but on
the west the case is widely diiferent ; and it
is there that the principal difficulties of a
blockading scjuadron exist. The main part of
the river flows through the Bogue ; but to the
westward there stretches a great delta, which
has been gradually formed by depositions of
soil from the turbid waters, and is crossed
in all directions by shallow channels com-
municating with each other, and with Canton.
Some of these channels form the inner passage,
by which the British factory used generally
to proceed between Canton and Macao, pass-
ing a town called Heangshan, the residence
of the chief magistrate of the Macao district.
These shallow channels to the westward,
though they are impassable by English ships,
present no obstacle to the flat-bottomed trading
craft of the Chinese, below the size of the
larger junks. The power and facilities of eva-
sion are therefore considerable, as the chan-
168 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
nels leading inwards are numerous, and their
mouths or entrances in such shoal water, as
to render it possible for only the smallest sized
English vessels to guard them. It may be
expected, therefore, that without the use of
open boats (always a severe service in a hot
climate), a considerable portion of the trade
of the Chinese will pass in and out from
Canton.
It is to be hoped that the blockade of the
Bogue may lead to a speedy collision with the
forts, and occasion the entire demolition of
those defences, as the Chinese seem to have
an idea that they are invincible. They have
suffered in several conflicts with our men-of-
war, but these were merely in forcing the
passage, without waiting to give the batteries
an effective lesson ; and until some of our ships
anchor before them, and entirely destroy the
forts, as well as carry off the guns, they will
always remain as a source of annoyance to
merchant ships, over which they exercise a
capricious tyranny.
In any other hands than those of the Chi-
BOGUE FORTS. 169
nese, the number of guns mounted by these
formidable looking batteries, would sink a ship in
a short time. They shewed about one hundred
and twenty cannon when forced by the Imo-
gene and Andromache frigates ; but the large
fort on the right hand, (named Anungkoy,)
has since been joined to another lower down,
and at present displays a line of immense
length. The defence on the little island, or rock,
to the left cannot be increased, unless they
add a third tier of guns to the two of which
it now consists, aa the whole rock is covered
by the battery. Besides these, there is a fort
to protect the shallow passage on the left of
the island just mentioned, but quite out of
reach of the main channel.
These defences being passed, a huge black-
looking rock, called Tiger Island, about three
miles higher up on the left, displays another
battery with above thirty embrasures or ports,
and the narrowness of the deep channel obliges
every ship to pass close to its wall. No other
fortification of the least consequence inter-
venes in the thirty miles between this place
VOL. II. I
170 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
mid Canton ; but the Chinese^ in case of at-
tacky would have recourse probably to blocking
up the channel by sinking junks laden with
stone. This being a desperate measure, and
calculated to spoil the navigation of the river,
nothing but extreme necessity will ever lead
to its adoption ; but collections of granite have
long been made in the neighbourhood of the
second bar, apparently with this view.
The second bar is about seven miles above
Tiger island, or ten above the Boque, and
twenty-two miles from Canton; it presents
little difficulty at high water to the largest
ships. Above the bar there is a sudden bend
in the river to the westward, and at the dis-
tance of about twelve miles upwards, is Wham-
poa, the port of Canton, ten miles below the
city and factories. No Chinese defences of any
kind have been erected here; but at a point
about midway to Canton, where the river
divides into two channels, a small square
fort was built some time after admiral
Drury*s expedition, and is called by the En-
glish "Howqua's fort," as that merchant is
MVEll. 171
said to have defrayed the expenses of the erec-
tion.
The defences become more insignificant as
the city is approached, which no doubt arises
from the Chinese trusting to the diminished
depth of the river as a safe-guard against
European shipping. Yet very large junks oc-
casionally come up to the walls of the city,
and there is no doubt of a brig of war, or a
steamer, doing the same if required. The
river above Whampoa has never been as well
surveyed as it ought to have been, if the possi-
bility of warlike operations was ever contem-
plated. Two small forts in the river, just
opposite to the city walls, have been very
appropriately named follies, as they are ap-
parently much fitter for summer-houses than
any purpose of a warlike kind.
The whole city of Canton lies below the
foreign factories on the river, so that an at-
tacking force would have no occasion to ap-
proach the latter in any plan of operation
against the town. The old and the new city
are divided by a wall running east and west,
i2
172 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
and parallel to the river; but the circuit of
the whole does not exceed six miles. The
walls are built of brick with stone foundations.
Their height is about twenty-five feet, rising
perpendicularly, and within, (as usual in all
Chinese towns,) is an earthen mound with a
terre-plein below the parapet of the wall, of
considerable breadth. The condition of the
walls is extremely bad, particularly on the east
side looking down the river, where a very little
would bring them down.
But the destruction of the comparatively
defenceless town of Canton, if not essential to
the attainment of any important point, is a
thing very much to be deprecated. The suflfer-
ing and loss to the people would be incalcu-
lable, and the means and sources of all future
commerce would be crippled if not demolished
for years. Our quarrel is with the govern-
ment, and not the people; and the strongest
impression will be produced by annihilating
all the boasted defences on the river, as well as
every species of force that they may venture
to make trial of. The standing native army
MACAO. 173
of Canton has been generally estimated to
consist of about seven thousand ill-conditioned
troops ; but there can be little doubt of all
possible addition having been made since the
alarm of war. The sudden diversion of the
main part of the expedition to the northward,
was of course calculated to perplex and con-
found the preparations of the government for
defence.
Under every circumstance that may occur,
there is one place which, from its position and
old associations, must of necessity play a con-
siderable part in the impending crisis. Macao
being situated out of the river and port of
Canton, and in the very centre of the active
blockade, — being also claimed at once by the
Chinese as landlords, and by the Portuguese
as tenants,— nmst inevitably give rise to some
curious and interesting episodes in the course
of the general transactions. Some advocates
have contended for its seizure and occupation,
a plan that has wisely been over-ruled ; for,
independently of such a measure involving the
question of Portuguese sovereignty, (however
174 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
untenable that seems to be,) the two previous
and unadvised occupations of the place during
the last war, with their fruitless and mortifying
results, would infallibly embolden the Chinese
to imagine that we were again about to play
the same futile game.
Some curious information was collected
respecting Macao by a Swedish gentleman,
named Ljungstedt, since dead, from whose
compilation, (as it was never regularly pub-
lished, and is extremely scarce,) it may be as
well to make citations. He commences by
proving beyond a doubt that the Portuguese
tenure of the place, is the very slightest of
all — ^a tenancy at willy of the emperor of China.
Late transactions have shewn it, if possible,
to be even less than this. The Chinese com-
missioner Lin took it upon himself to drive all
the English out of the place in 1 839, without
asking leave of the Portuguese, and in fact very
much against their will, as the best houses in
the place, being their property, were tenanted
by the English to the amount of thirty thou-
sand dollars per annum. It is remarkable.
MACAO. 175
however, that as soon as a respectable naval
force arrived on the coast, the Chinese com-
missioner no longer persisted in his molestation
of EInglish residents ; and they have returned
and resumed their former abodes; though it
must be acknowledged at the expense of no
small degree of personal jeopardy.*
The accurate panorama of Macao, now ex-
hibiting in London, represents a striking Eu-
ropean-looking town, with its churches, con-
vents, and forts built along the curve, and
topping the heights, of a picturesque bay.
Macao is placed on a small rocky peninsula,
only three miles long, and about one broad,,
and joined to the Chinese district of Heang-
shan by a narrow isthmus of sand thrown up
by the sea. The sum originally paid by the
Portuguese to its real sovereign, the Chinese
emperor, as an annual rent, amounted for-
merly to something considerable ; but in con-p
sequence of the increasing poverty of the place,
it has been reduced to the mere quit rent of
* Mr. Stanton has been seized since the above was
written.
176 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
five hundred taels per annum. Across the
isthmus of sand the Chinese have erected a
harrier wall of separation^ having a gate in the
centre, through which no European is allowed
to pass to the Chinese side. This barrier is
said to have been formed in consequence of
the practice in which the Romish priests in-
dulged, of purchasing, or even stealing, Chi-
nese children to make them proselytes.
A mandarin resides in Macao, and issues his
edicts to the Portuguese governor. Of the
earlier institution of this office, Ljungstedt's
memoir states, that natural born subjects of
Portugal were not ashamed to lay complaints
against their own countrymen before the local
mandarins, and the higher authorities at Can-
ton. To redeem themselves from the conse-
quent vexations, the citizens of Macao had no
other means than bribery. It is certain that
at later periods the Macao mandarin (called
Tso-tdng) has more than once reduced the
Portuguese governor to obedience by stopping
the entry of provisions and supplies for the
town.
MACAO HELD OF THE CHINESE. 177
The Portuguese are not permitted to build
new houses, nor even to repair old ones with-
out leave. This is easily enforced, as all the
workmen are Chinese. It is forbidden by a
Chinese edict, dated 1749, to erect new churches
or other edifices without a license from the
mandarin of the district. This officer annually
visits the Portuguese forts, and sees that no addi-
tions have been made to them or their defences.
The whole number of troops allowed by the
Chinese is limited to four hundred black sol-
diers, commanded by about eighteen Portuguese
officers. These at present are below that num-
ber, and miserably inefficient; but they must
once have been of a different description, for
a Dutch fleet of thirteen sail was, more than
two hundred years ago (a.d. 1622), defeated in
attempting to land troops and seize the town.
In return for this service to the celestial em-
pire the viceroy of Canton sent a present of
two hundred peculs of rice to Macao.
The Chinese, with their usual skill and tact,
have made use of the Portuguese inhabitants
against the enemies of the empire. The ex-
i3
178 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
tensive coast, with its numerous islands, being'
much too great a charge for the puny naval
force of the government, has given birth, from
time to time, to formidable fleets of pirates,
who laid waste the country within a few miles
of the sea. One of the most powerful of these
combinations arose in the first years of the
present century, and at length grew strong
enough to threaten Canton. The viceroy was
compelled to seek assistance from Macao, and
an agreement was formed with the Portuguese
authorities of that place on the 23rd of No-
vember, 1809. Macao furnished six vessels,
manned, armed, and provided with ammunition
for six months, to act in concert with a squa-
dron of war junks. This combined fleet, say the
Portuguese, gained some advantages over the
pirates, who, being thus checked in their course,
were prevented from obtaining the necessary
supplies from the coast. Want and distress every
day increased, and they were compelled at length
to listen to terms of surrender. The chief was
pardoned, and made a mandarin. More than
twenty thousand persons returned to their alle-
PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONARIES OP MACAO, 179
giance. A hundred and twenty-six were beheaded
(after pardoning the chief), and a great many
more exiled for different periods of time.*
The principal Portuguese functionaries of
Macao are the governor, who commands the
military; the judge, or dezembargador, some-
times called *' o ministro ;" and the bishop.
Each of these receives a stipend of two thou-
sand taels, or about six hundred pounds sterl-
ing per annum, a sufficient remuneration when
compared with the extent of their charge.
The ill-conduct and illiberal spirit of the Por-
tuguese drove away the English trade and ca-
pital from Macao in 1822, and the place has
declined ever since. The whole of the shipping
consists of about sixteen small vessels, measuring
little more than five thousand tons. Even
these are many of them freighted by Chinese
capitalists, because the property on board is
considered safer than in a junk.
The population of Macao consists of Chinese,
native Portuguese, and Europeans. The first
* Mr. Glasspoole's account differs from the Portuguese.
See Chapter XVIII., infra.
180 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
form by far the most numerous portion, and
amount to between twenty and thirty thou-
sand. The Portuguese are numbered at some-
thing more than four thousand, of whom above
a fourth part are black slaves ; and the greater
part of the Portuguese, so called, are Mestifos^
or mongrels, descended from European fathers,
but Chinese or Malay mothers. It appears to
have been the early policy of Portugal to make
its eastern colonies the places of banishment
for public criminals, and Macao came in for its
share of these exportations. A portion of the
population, therefore, has this unlucky origin.
But, from the governor down to the Cafifre
slave, no Christian condescends to exercise any
handicraft, which is left entirely to the Chi-
nese. The builders, carpenters, shoemakers,
&c., are without exception Chinese. Trade is
the only gainful profession in which a Macao
Portuguese will exert the few energies that he
may be gifted with ; and the possession of some
chests of opium constitutes what they call a
merchant.
The number of churches and other public
DEFENCES OP MACAO. 181
buildings, still remaining at Macao, bear witness
that the place has once been much wealthier,
if not more independent of China, than at pre-
sent. Of churches there are at least a dozen,
with a "Casa de Camera," or senate house, a ra-
ther handsome building. The expenditure of
the English had of late years been the prin-
cipal support of the town, and many good
houses were built expressly for them ; some of
these by the advance of English capital under
Portuguese names, as none but a naturalised
Portuguese might possess a house there. The
events that have occurred since 1834 have de-
prived Blacao of some of its best tenants, and
there seems at present nothing to prevent its
utter desertion, unless the place should come
altogether under British protection — of which
there is no immediate danger.
The principal strength of the town consists
in the shoalness of the water not permitting
large ships to approach within gunshot range ;
but there are several points at which troops
could be landed out of reach of the forts.
These forts are six in number, thougl;) they
182 SKETCHES OF CHIKA.
are ill found and worse manned. The town
is nearly surrounded, on land, by an old wall,
which, in the Chinese fashion, crosses the tops
of the hills. This wall is said to have been
erected by the "travaux forces," of the pri-
soners taken in the unsuccessful Dutch attack
of 1622. One of the most characteristic fea-
tures of the place was the convent of Santa Clara,
a huge black pile of building, where some
forty nuns anticipated their final burial by
being immured for life — ^very much for their
own benefit, no doubt, and that of society at
large. Some equally useful gentlemen kept
them in countenance, hard by, in a monastery
of Franciscan monks.
The Portuguese were at first so blind to
their real interest as to oppose the resort and
residence of any Europeans but the subjects of
Spain or Portugal, but this soon ceased to be
optional. A regulation of the Emperor Kien^
loong, in 1760, prohibited foreigners from re-
siding at Canton after the shipping season was
over, and positive orders were therefore issued
that strangers should, during the interval be-
PORTUGUESE EMBASSIES'. 188
tween the end of one season and the beginning
of the next, transport themselves to Macao.
They accordingly came with the authority and
commands of the Chinese government, addressed
to the governor of Macao, who dared not re-
fiise. The residence of the British factory
during the summer months was by an express
order from Lisbon.
As the terms on which the Portuguese of
Macao held that place made them, from the
first, mere dependents of the Emperor of China,
this circumstance led to a great number of
embassies to the imperial court. The detail
of these (and of some others) is instructive,
as it proves that the English is not the only
nation which has objected to the humiliations
sought to be imposed ; as well as that the cere-
monies and usages of the Chinese have on par-
ticular occasions been accommodated to circum-
stances. The reception of an English ambas-
sador is a question which may possibly again
arise out of our present disturbed relations
with the country ; in which event the know-
ledge of former precedents would be desirable.
184 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
When Formosa, towards the end of the 17tli
century, was in the hands of the Chinese, who
had wrested that island from the Dutch, the
Tartar fleet of the Emperor Kdnghy was unable
to cope with the superior navy of the Chinese
admiral. The Peking government accordingly
adopted its peculiar policy of commanding all
its subjects, who dwelt on the borders of the
sea, to withdraw thirty Chinese ly (or about
ten English miles) into the interior, leaving
the coast bare to the invaders.* They were
likewise forbidden to navigate. But this sum-
mary order included Macao, which was just
as much an integral part of the Chinese empire
as any other. By the intercession of the Jesuit
Adam Schaal, the emperor was pleased to except
the Portuguese of that town from the sentence
of moving to another place ; but the prohibi-
tion against navigation remained in full force.
As Macao subsisted entirely by trade, its in-
habitants ventured to use their ships, partly by
* Our history records a similar devastation of the land
between the Tyne and the Humber, to guard against the
Danes.
SALDANHA. 185
stealth and partly by means of bribery ; but the
system proved so hazardous and uncertain that
the senate determined on making the viceroy
of Goa, Conte St. Vincente, acquainted with
the miseries that threatened them. In hopes
that an embassy might serve to alleviate their
hardships, the viceroy sent Emanuel de Sal-
danha in the name of the king of Portugal to
Peking. Saldanha arrived at Macao, at the
time when seven ships with cargoes had been
confiscated by an order from the emperor.
The envoy was provided at Macao with pre-
sents for the court of Peking, and after being
long detained at Canton, was at length de-
spatched in a barge which bore this inscription
on a flag — " Cet homme vient pour rendre hom-
mage," which is exactly the Koong-she (tribute-
bearer) of later embassies. The whole expense
of the mission, including presents, was above
thirty thousand taels, or ten thousand pounds,
much more in those days than at present. The
ships condemned were released, but in other
respects the results were so unsatisfactory that
the city of Macao begged to be at the charge
186 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
of no more embassies^ except in some very im-
minent and cogent case.
When Yoongcling, the successor of Kdng--
hj/, provoked by the revolutionising intrigues
of the Romish priests, had determined to rid
himself of them, the king of Portugal in 1726
sent Metello as his ambassador to Peking.
This envoy seems to have made some struggle
for the sake of his dignity, and endeavoured to
forward to the emperor a remonstrance, in
which, alluding to the diflFerence between a
vassal king and an independent sovereign, he
expressed his confidence that he should not be
subjected to undue humiliations. He was as-
sured at Canton that the words Tsin koong
(tributary) should not be mentioned, and shortly
afterwards proceeded by the usual land route
with forty attendants.
Arrived at Peking, Metello was presently
conducted before the emperor, when he as-
cended the steps of the throne, and kneeling,
presented his credentials. Then, returning to
the front of the centre gate, he and his retinue
performed the Tartar act of homage, which
PORTUGUESE MISSION OF 1726. 187
was rather at variance with his previous scru-
ples. The audience of leave was at Yuenming-
yuen, where the emperor presented to the am-
bassador with his own hand a cup of wine^
and sent him some meat from his own table.
Metello informed the Chinese minister that he
could not receive a letter to his royal master
unless it was couched in terms of equality ; but
the latter contrived to satisfy his scruples on
this point. The Portuguese embassy embarked
at Tungchow in boats^ and was nearly five months
on the journey to Canton. As usual, no advan-
tage whatever was gained by this embassy ; but
John v., king of Portugal, signified to the city
of Macao that he would graciously condescend
to accept a donative in return for the heavy
charges of the mission. The sum of thirty
thousand taels was accordingly contributed by
the city, and by the Romish priests interested
in the objects to which the embassy had been
directed, though without the least success ; as
the Catholic worship was finally prohibited in
China, and has continued so for above a century
to the present day.
188 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
The last Portuguese embassy from Macao
was in 1753, when the court of Lisbon de-
spatched an envoy to Peking in the person of
Sampayo, to complain of certain encroachments
made by the Canton government upon the city
and population of Macao. This was just forty
years before the mission of Lord Macartney,
and to the same emperor, Kienloong. The
ambassador proceeded from Canton with Father
Hallerstein as interpreter — a name famous in
the Catholic mission. The ceremonies were
nearly similar to those in the previous mission,
and the results quite as fruitless. After the
usual period of about a month's residence at
Peking, the letter to the king of Portugal was
handed at Yuenmingyuen to the ambassador,
who embarked in boats on the 3rd June, and
reached Canton on the 6th October, after the
customary journey of four months, over a dis-
tance of less than thirteen hundred miles. This
unprofitable embassy cost as much as the former
one, and the Portuguese henceforward wisely
abstained from sending any more.
An occasion on which the equal and inde-
FRENCH SHIP AMPHITBITE, 139
pendent claims of European sovereigns were
successfully maintained deserves notice, as it
countenances and sanctions the proceedings of
the English ambassadors. A Frencli ship-of-
war, V Aviphitrite, was sent to Canton in 1699,
under the command of the Chevalier de la
Roque, to carry back the Jesuit, P^re Bouvet,
who had been despatched on a particular mis-
sion to France by the Chinese emperor. The
ship on her arrival was exempted from duties
and port charges, and the viceroy prepared an
entertainment for the commander, who at
the same time was made to understand that
the Tartar prostration would be previously
required.
" As these thanksgivings" (says the Jesuit
Bouvet) " take place in China with certain
ceremonies which savour of submission and
homage, we represented that the captain of the
ship, being an officer of the greatest and most
powerful monarch of the west, who was accus-
tomed to receive homage without rendering it
to any one, could not perform the ceremony
in the Chinese manner. The mandarins, who
190 $K£TCHE8 OF CHINA.
wifllied to do honour to our nation^ and not to
displease us, replied that it would be sufficient
if it were done in a manner creditable to both
nations; that is, partly in the Chinese, and
partly in the French fashion ; and to this end
they themselves proposed that the Chevalier
de la Roque, with his face towards Peking,
should hear the imperial commands, to be an-
nounced by the viceroy, respecting the remia*
sion of the port chaises on the ship. That in
token of reverence he might bend his knee^
and then take off his hat in the French man-
ner ; or, if he liked it better, he might hear the
emperor's order with his hat off and his body
inclined, without kneeling ; and that then he
might show his respect after the fashion of his
own country.
" As M. le Chevalier found no difficulty in
acceding to the latter proposition, he offered to
conform to it, and the noble air with which he
went through the ceremony inspired the vice-
roy, and the other mandarins who assisted on
this occasion, with respect for his person and
his nation. He was then regaled with an en-
PIRACIES OF PORTUGUESE. 191
tertainment, at which himself and officers were
placed above the principal mandarins."
No formal embassy from the French court
has ever appeared at Peking, though a commu-
nication with Paris was long maintained
through the medium of the Jesuits. The only
European nations who have sent envoys to
the Chinese emperor are the Portuguese, the
Russians, the Dutch, and the English ; and as
the English were the last to establish an in-
tercourse, and the most active and enterprising
to carry it on, so they have been the first to
declare open war against the celestial empire.
The early acts of violence committed by the
Portuguese upon the coasts partook more of a
private and piratical, than of a national cha-
racter. The vessels were partly manned by
convicts and renegades exiled from their native
country, and the commanders themselves felt
sufficiently exempt from control at that im-
mense distance from Europe ; at a time when
the modern facilities of communication were un-
known, and a voyage out occupied nearly a year
in duration. The first impression of the Euro-
192 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
pean character in China was that of a set of
unprincipled commercial adventurers ; and the
first embassy from Portugal disastrous in its
results.
The " Canton Miscellany*' gives a detail^
from the Portuguese historian de Barros^ of
this very early mission, which was sent by the
king of Portugal in the year 1520. The man-
darins of Canton preceded the envoy's arrival
by the most unfavourable accounts, represent-
ing him and his retinue as spies. His country-
men were said to have come to the east exclu-
sively to make conquests; they had already
seized upon Malacca, the deposed sovereign of
which repaired to Peking, and entreated the
protection of the emperor. After being sub-
jected to the severest humiliations at Peking,
the ambassador and his suite were sent back
alive to Canton, but under strict custody. The
Portuguese were directed to restore Malacca to
its rightful owner, and never more to appear in
China.
In the mean while the proceedings of the
adventurer Simon de Andrade, which were
SIMON D£ ANDRADE. l93
sufficiently outrageous, became represented at
Peking with mucli exaggeration. He seized
upon an island near Canton, raised a fort, and
erected a gibbet to inspire the Chinese with
terror. A fleet, in which was one ship from Lis-
bon, arrived in the Canton river, conducted by a
person who deeply incensed the government by
his acts. He was presently joined by two ves-
sels fully manned, and provided with stores and
ammunition. They were attacked by the Chi-
nese admiral with fifty sail of junks, which
inflicted some, but received greater damage from
the guns of the Portuguese. The latter, how-
ever, were blockaded for nearly two months,
until relieved by the arrival of two more ships
from Malacca, when a sharp engagement took
place, in which the Chinese admiral was de*-
feated, and his fleet subsequently dispersed in
a violent storm. He revenged himself by put-
ting to death the prisoners who had fallen into
his hands. About this juncture the unfortunate
envoy Pirez arrived at Canton from the court,
where he and his companions were robbed
VOL. II. K
194 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
of their property, thrown into prison, and at
last put to death.
Thus it appears that in the earlier periods of
European intercourse, neither the Portuguese
nor the Dutch proved altogether invincible in
naval hostilities against the Chinese. The
balance, however, has greatly altered in the
interim, and while the latter have remained
stationary, or perhaps retrograded, the art of
naval warfare in Europe has made immense ad-
vances. The result of direct warfare may be
considered as already decided; but in policy
and negociation we have to contend with the
most astute government of Asia, possessing ab-
solute power over its subjects, and by no means
scrupulous as to the means by which it accom-
plishes its ends.
195
CHAPTER XVII.
Chasan — described in 1901 — island of Pooto^-of Kin-tlUi
— advantages of Chusan — visits to, at di£fcrent periods —
Giitzlaff's three voyages — first in a junk — Shanghae —
Tsoong-ming — the Peiho — ^Tien-tsin — Chapoo — Amoy —
Chinese trade with Formosa — supjdies of rice — Chinchew
— Fochowfoo — best position for tea trade.
The great interest which now attaches to
Chusan^ from the circumstance of its having
been fixed upon as a place of occupation by the
British force, calls for some particular notices
respecting that part of the coast. It is the
principal island of a group lying off the shores
of China, due east of the city of Ningpo-foo, just
under latitude 30® N. The principal town is
Ting^hae, being in fact the port of Chusan,
situated on the south-west coast of the island,
about twenty-eight miles from the mouth of
the Ningpo river. It is approached by a num-
ber of deep channels among the islands, and
there is a secure anchorage in the harbour.
196 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
within half a mile of the shore, for the largest
ships, with a depth of water varying from five
and a half to nine fathoms. A fair chart of
the islands and anchorage was made by Mr. A.
Dalrymple.
The whole length of the island east and west
is nearly thirty miles, with about half that
breadth north and south. Some portions
of the land rise into lofty hills, particularly
towards the eastward, in which direction, nearly
five miles from Chusan, lies the much smaller
but romantic island of Poo-tOy of which some
notice will be taken presently. When the
English were allowed a factory at Tinghae, it
was not within the walled city, but in a suburb
(as at Canton), with the advantage, however, of
being in sight, and almost in hail of the ships.
Mr. Cunningham, a medical officer to the
British factory at that time, thus describes it
in a letter dated 1701 : — " Upon this island
the Chinese have granted us a settlement and
liberty of trade, but not to Ningpo, which is
six or eight hours* sail to the westward, all the
way among the islands. ... At the south-
CHUSAN IN 1701. 197
west end of this island is the harbour, very safe
and convenient, where the ships ride within
call of the factorie, which is built close to the
shore OQ a low plain valley, with near two
hundred houses about it for the benefit of trade,
inhabited by men whose jealousy has not yet
permitted them to let their wives dwell here ;
for the town of Tinghae, where they are, is
three quarters of a mile further from the shore,
environed with a fine stone wall about three
miles in circumference, mounted with twenty-
two square bastions at irregular distances, be-
sides four great gates on which are planted a
few old iron guns seldom or never used.
" The houses within are very meanly built.'
Here the Chumpeen {Tsoong-ping, commander-
in-chief,) or governor of the island lives, and
between three and four thousand beggarlie in-
habitants, most part soldiers and fishermen; for
the trade of the place being newly granted has
not as yet brought any considerable merchants
' hither. The island in general abounds with
■ all sorts of provisions, such as cows, buffaloes,
^^goats, deer, hogs wild and tame, geese, ducks
\
I
198 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
and liens> rice, wheat, &c. ; but for merchan-
dize there's none but what comes from Ningpo,
Hangchow, Nanking, and the inland towns.**
The same letter gives an exact account of the
very remarkable island called Pooto, lying close
to Ghusan, and generally considered to be the
head-quarters of Chinese Budhism. The ests^
blishments of temples and priests are enormous.
Mr. Cunningham's account agrees exactly with
that of Mr. Gutzlaff, given more than a hundred
years afterwards. " It is inhabited" (he says)
**. only by bonzes, to the number of three thou-
sand, all of the ^ect called Hoshang, or unmar-
ried bonzes, who live a Pythagorean life ; and
there they have built above four hundred pa-
godas (temples), two. whereof are considerable
for their greatness and finery, being lately
covered with green and yellow tiles brought
from the emperors palace at Nanking;* and
inwardly adorned with stately idols finely
carved and gilded, the chief whereof is the idol
Quon-eun (Kwanyin).
" There's another island called Kim-tong
* Soon after that city was dismantled by the Tartars.
ISLAND OP KIN-TAN.
(Kin-tdn), five leagues hence in the way to
Ningpo, whither they say doe retire a great
many manderines to live a quiet life after they
have given over their employments. On that
island, also, are said to be silver mines, but pro-
hibited to be opened. The rest of the circum-
jacent islands are either desert, or meanly in-
habited by a few fishing people, but all of them
stored with abundance of deer." It is probable
that this is by no means the present condition
of the Chusan group. The immense advance
made by the rest of China in population and
prosperity since the time of the emperor
Kanghy, (when the above letter was written,)
has extended to the islands in question, which
border on the very richest portion of the em-
pire. Mr. Cunningham wrote not very long
after the Manchow conquest, by which the
whole country bad been a severe sufferer in
population and wealth.
Perhaps no position could have been chosen
better calculated than Cbusan to annoy the Chi-
nese government. The produce of the island
alone, if it could be secured, and the industry
200 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
of the natives continue^ might be sufficient td
maintain the whole armament hitherto sent«
Within fifty or sixty miles to the westward is
the city of Ningpo, and at a hundred miles
distance, bordering an estuary of the sea, lies
the most celebrated city of China, next to Pe-
king, by name Hdngchow, the seat of vast in-
dustry, population, wealth, and luxury. A
little further to the north, at about a hundred
and thirty miles from Chusan, is the mouth of
the great river Yang-tse-keang, leading to the
grand canal.
The obvious advantages of Chusan as the
base of our operations had long ago been re-
cognised. Its intended occupation was not
known to the English public until November,
1840 ; but a note to the ' Chinese' observes —
*' In a war with China, the possession of
Chusan would be a means of severely annoying
the neighbouring coasts." As long ago as
1833, a paper in the Chinese Repository gave
a sketch of operations that have been adopted
in part. After observing that Canton was
objectionable, from its position at the south-
ADVANTAGES OF CHUSAN. 201
fern extremity of the empire, it proceeds to
say — " An admiral's station should therefore
be selected. For the sake of resting upon some
point, let Ningpo be adopted, or the adjacent
island of Chusan The flag-ship was
supposed to be established in the port of Chusan
with her cruisers; the most valuable would
certainly be our small sloops-of-war,* and flat^
bottomed gun-boats. It will be seen, by refer-
ence to the maps, that the admiral would
possess, by means of the Hwanghof and other
rivers, facilities for operating upon the grand
canal, and cutting off the supplies of Peking.'*
The province of Ch^keang, to which Chu-
san pertains, is the very centre of the silk
manufactures and of tea cultivation, the two
great staples of British trade with China. A
little islet which forms the southern side of
the harbour of Chusan itself, is called " Tea-
island," and is covered with tea-shrubs to the
* There are no less than ten of these in the present expe-
dition. The blockade of the canal remains for another
campaign.
t Rather, the Yang-tse-keang.
k3
202 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
very tops of the hills. Both tea and silk are
not more than one-half as dear as they are
purchased at Canton. The taking of Hdng^
chow would probably pay the indemnity for the
opium seized by Commissioner Lin ; but a /e-
galised trade at that place, or its neighbour-
hood, with the emperor's sanction, is not a very
early prospect. It is not likely that the admi-
ral or the queen's commissioner will openly
countenance the illicit trade in opium ; but the
indirect protection that this will derive from
the presence of our ships-of-war is calculated to
give it a great impulse. At the very time that
the war with China (and with half of Asia
besides) acts as a drain upon his revenue, it is
not probable that the governor-general of India
will be very hostile to the trade in opium.
About twenty years after Mr. Cunningham
wrote the letter which has been quoted, the
English were restricted, by an edict of the em-
peror, to Canton alone, where the multiplied
exactions soon forced them to attempt regain-
ing their former footing (with all its discou-
ragements) at Chusan and Amoy — ^but without
VISITS TO CHUSAN AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. 203
any success. The ship Grafton failed in 1734
at Amoy ; and two years afterwards the Nor^
manton met with no better success at Ningpo
and Chusan. In 1759, the factories once occu-
pied by the English at the latter places were
destroyed, by order of the Chinese govern-
ment, and the war-junks directed to prevent
the supply of any provisions to our merchant
ships. This gave rise to the enterprising ex-
pedition of Mr. Flint, which terminated in
that gentleman's imprisonment for two years
near Macao.*
The next visit to Chusan was from the
squadron which conveyed Lord Macartney's
embassy. In their way through the group of
islands they reckoned that there must be full
three hundred altogether. The Clarence brig
was sent forward ahead, and anchored in
Chusan harbour in five fathoms, about half a
mile distant from the landing-place, near the
residence of the Chinese governor, who was
still a Tsoong^ping, or military commander,
as in former times. In this situation the four
* See *' Chinese,' page 26, third edition.
204 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
passages intx) the harbour were all shut in, S4>
that it looked like a lake surrounded by hills.
Among these numerous islands, there appeared
to be almost the same number of good har-
bours for ships of any burthen, — ^an important
circumstance for the powerful squadron of ships
which has lately sailed there.
The Clarence found at Tinghae a Chinese
merchant who had formerly traded with the
East India Company, while they were per-
mitted to visit that port ; and he still retained
some knowledge of English. The interval,
which was then only thirty-five years, has now
been increased to eighty, which precludes the
possibility of any individual being now found
by our armament who could recollect the
English trade at that place. The reason stated
to the visitors in the Clarence, for our exclu-
sion from that port, seems to be the true one —
not that we had given any just cause of um-
brage, but the influence of the Canton man-
darins at Peking, in their wish to centre the
whole European trade in that province and
city ; to which might be added the jealous
TINGHAE. 205
fears of the Tartar government, and its un-
willingness to admit our vessels so near to the
most valuable portions of the empire.
The party from the Clarence, on visiting the
walled town of Tinghae, approached it from
the suburb over a flat intersected with rivulets
and canals* The ground is stated to have been
cultivated like a garden ; not a spot was waste ;
and the road, as usual, was narrow, that as little
land as possible might be lost to culture. They
found the walls of the town nearly thirty feet
high, overtopping the houses. At the distance of
every hundred yards were square towers of stone.
In the parapets were also embrasures, and holes
at intervals for archery ; but no cannon were
seen, except some old wrought-iron ones near
the gate. This gate was double, and within
the enclosure was a guard-house containing
soldiers with their arms, which consisted of
bows and arrows, pikes and matchlocks.
The town itself was in some degree inter-
sected with canals, the bridges over which
were steep, and ascended by steps, like the Rialto
at Venice. The streets, which were mere
206 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
alleys in breadth, were paved with flat stones»
and the houses very low, and mostly of one
story. This description answers to that of
Canton. The town was full of shops, con-
taining chiefly articles of food, clothing, and
furniture — calculated rather for the supply of
the inhabitants than for commerce, which is
almost entirely absorbed by the neighbouring
emporium of Ningpo-foo. As it is determined
that Tinghae shall be constituted an English
garrison-town, any account of its previous state
is interesting.
A portion of the embassy of Lord Macart-
ney, on their return from Peking, joined the
ships of the squadron lying at Chusan; but
instead of proceeding straight from Hdng-chow
(which is at the bottom of a bay) by sea, they
were conducted by the Chinese to Ning-po
along rivers and canals ; the reason of which
proceeding was, in all probability, the fear of
showing to the European party how approach-
able the rich and flourishing city of Hang"
choWy the capital of the province, was by sea.
The next account of a visit to the Chusan
gutzlaff's three voyages. 207
group is in the journals of Messrs. GutzlaiGF
and Lindsay, who went straight to Ningpo-foo.
The city and suburbs are described as covering
more than half the space of Canton ; while the
streets were wider and the shops handsomer
than in any town that they saw on the coast.
For trade, however, they found no place to
equal Shanghae, whither they proceeded direct
from NingpOy crossing the mouth of the great
bay which contains Hang-chow-foo. As Shang'
hae is not much more than a hundred miles
from Chusan, we are likely to hear of it very
soon. The city or port is built on a broad
and deep river, not far from the entrance, and
on the left bank. Commodious quays and large
warehouses line the shore, where the water
is deep enough to allow junks to unload along-
side. In the middle the river has more than
six fathoms depth, and it is nearly half a mile
in breadth.
More has been lately done towards ex-
ploring the whole eastern coast, by the three
voyages of Mr. Gutzlaif, than had been eifected
for many years previously. The first of these
•**"
208 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
voyages was performed in a Chinese junk, the
second in the ship Amherst, and the last in
a small opium vessel. The details of all three
are highly curious and interesting. Mr. Gutzj-
laif sailed from Siam, in 1831, on board a junk
bound for Tien-tsin, near Peking. As these
vessels coast it the whole way, he had thus
the opportunity to take a general survey of
the entire coast from Canton to the Peiho.
On the 17th July they anchored in the har-
bour of Naimh {Nangaov)y an island situated
exactly on the frontier of the Canton and
Fokien provinces, and the eastern limit of our
existing survey on the coast. It is a military
station, with a fort, and a place of considerable
trade, carried on between the people of Fokien
and Canton. These two races were originally
dijGFerent ; a certain line of distinction prevails
between them, and they are occasionally in-
volved in desperate feuds, in which numbers
are killed on both sides.
The harbour of Namoh is described as
spacious and deep, but the entrance as difficult
and dangerous. On the 30th July Mr. Gutz-
AMOY. 209
laff passed Amoy^ formerly a seat of English
trade, and now the principal emporium of
Fokien, and the residence of numerous mer-
chants, owning more than three hundred large
junks, with which they carry on a trade with
the other ports of China, and with the Malay
archipelago. As Amotfy like Chusauy is an
island, it has already become a scene of opera-
tions tx) our men-of-war. The junk, with
Mr. GutzlajGF, next sailed through the channel
of Formosa, where northerly winds and strong
southerly currents chiefly prevail. Since being
colonised by the Chinese, Formosa is said to
have made great advances. Its principal pro-
ducts are rice, sugar, and camphor ; and. as the
rice is for the supply of the opposite provinces
of China, the loss of this cannot fail to be felt
in a maritime war. The inhabitants of For-
mosa, being so far separated by sea, have proved
a turbulent race, and given much trouble to
the Chinese Government. A rebellion broke
out in 1833, which was suppressed with great
difficulty, and large numbers of the emperor's
troops and of mandarins were killed.
210 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Passing through the Chusan group, the
junk reached the mouth of the Yang-tse-keang,
and the neighbourhood of the great emporium
Shanghai Just to the north of that port,
and at the embouchure of the Yang-tse-keang,
is a long flat island, not less than forty miles
in length, called Tsooiig-ming^* of which a
particular and curious account has been givren
by the Jesuits. It has been formed entirely by
the deposition of soil from the great river
where it first enters the sea ; being in fact a
bar with channels on each side of it. The
one which separates it from the continent to
the south-west is stated to be about ten miles
broad. Around this island are forming other
smaller islets from the same causes, com-
mencing in the first instance as shoals, which
the Chinese call sha^ " sands."
The population of Tsoong-ming is greatly
beyond what it could be supposed capable of
maintaining. It was originally, from its wild
and unpromising character, selected as a place
* Sometimes KeangsKe^ the " tongue of the Keang *' —
being just at its mouth.
TSOONG-MINO. 211
of exile for convicts ; but time and industry
have rendered it a rich and well-peopled por-
tion of the empire. There is a considerable
walled town on the south-east side, named
Tsoong-mngkien. The vicinity of the island
to Ckusan (about a degree and a half), must
give to both places nearly the same climate ;
and accordingly the Jesuit account of Tsoong-
ming in this respect becomes interesting. The
frost lasts about twelve days in the depth, of
winter, and the snow that falls is melted
immediately by the sun. The greatest heat
prevails for two months, in July and August,
but is generally moderated by gales or thunder-
storms. It is less satisfactory to learn that
severe hurricanes prevail here, similar to the
typhoons on the Canton coast ; and as Chusan
B to the southward it must be expected to par^
take of them. " There blow from the north-
east," says the Jesuit P^re Jacquemin, long
resident in the island, " terrible gales, which
we call hurricanes in our seas, and the natives
of the place Paou-foong, ' cruel winds,' that
nothing can resist. These furious tempests
212 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
generally prevail from July tx) September.
During the short period of their continuance
they destroy the labours of the country-people,
and ruin the hopes of the most promising har-
vest. Woe to the vessels which happen to be
on the coast at these times ; they rarely escape
shipwreck." The same authority states that in
other respects the place is highly favoured.
A number of considerable towns are spread
over the island, abounding in well-stored shops,
which contribute not only to the necessities
but to the luxuries of life. We are likely to
hear mbre of Tsoong-ming shortly.
But to return to the coasting voyage of Mr.
Gutzlaff. The junk, after putting in for a few
days at LetaoUy a spacious harbour at the extre*
mity of the Shantung promontory, touched no-
where else until the mouth of the Peiho was
gained. The account of this is curious at the
present time. — " The entrance of the Peiho pre-
sents nothing but scenes of wretchedness, and
the whole adjacent country seemed as dreary as
a desert. While the south winds blow, the coast
(which is only just above the sea's level) is
THE PEIHO. 213
often overflowed to a considerable distance, and
the country further inland afibrds very little
to attract attention, being diversified only by
stacks of salt and by numerous tumuli which
mark the abodes of the dead. The people told
me that when the vessels of the last English
embassy were anchored oflF the Peiho, a detach-
ment of soldiers, infantry and cavalry, was sent
hither to ward oif any attack that might be
made. The impression made on the minds of
the people by the appearance of those ships
is still very perceptible. I frequently heard
unrestrained remarks* concerning barbarian
fierceness and thirst after conquest, mixed with
eulogiums on the equitable government of the
English at Sincapore. The people wondered
how a few barbarians, without the trans-
forming influence of the celestial empire,
could arrive at a state of civilization very little
inferior to that of the "middle kingdom."
They rejoiced that the water at the bar of
the Peiho was too shallow to aflford a passage
* Passing as he did for a Chinese.
214 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
for men-of-war,* and that its course was too
rapid to allow the English vessels to ascend
the river. While these things were mentioned
with exultation, it was remarked by one who
was present, that the barbarians had "fire*
ships,** which could proceed up the river vsrith-
out the aid of trackers. This remark greatly
astonished them and excited their fears, which,
however, were quieted when I assured them
that those barbarians, as they called them,
though vaUant, would never make an attack
unless provoked." They little thought that
this crisis was so near.
About thirty men joined the junk to assist
in towing her up against the stream, which,
according to our authority, constantly flows
towards the sea with more or less rapidity.
During ebb tide there was not enough water
for the junk to proceed ; and as the junks are
flat-bottomed, this presents a bad prospect for
* Mr. Gutzlaff adds, — "Which, however, is wot the
case ; when the south wind prevails there is water enough
for ships of the largest class."
TIEN-THIN. 215
European vessels. Nearly a fortnight, from
delays and other causes, seems to have elapsed
from the arrival at Takoo to the time of their
reaching Tlen-tsin. This town is described,
of course, as being very commercial, as equal-
ling Canton in the bustle of its population,
and surpassing it in the importance of its
native trade. It is in fact the port of Peking,
and supplies the capital with the two greatest
necessaries of life — grain and salt. The dis-
tance by land from the sea is not above forty
miles.
More than five hundred junks, according to
Mr, Gutzlaff, arrive at Tien-tsin bi/ sea from
the southern provinces ; but by far the greater
part of the trade, and all the grain junks, come
inland by the canal. As the country here yields
few productions, and Peking consumes immense
quantities of stores, the iuiports are of course
very great. Sysee silver is mentioned as being
particularly plentiful, and in fact the chief
article of export. This nmst of course be the
case, where the native productions are little or
nothing. " I was quite surprised to see so
216 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
much Sysee silver in circulation. The quantity
of it was so great that there seemed to be no
difficulty in collecting thousands of taels at the
shortest notice. A regular trade in silver is
carried on by a great many individuals."
The lateness of the season obliged the junk
to hasten her departure on the 17th October^
lest the Peihoy freezing up, should detain her
over the winter. They then proceeded to
Kin-chow, on the coast of Manchow Tartary,
where the water is described to be as shallow
as at the Peiho. Not far from this place>
inland, is Mougden, the original birth-place
of the reigning emperors of China; but the
country is poor, and possesses few attractions.
On their return towards Canton, where they
did not arrive until December, Mr. Gutzlaff
had occasion, in passing through the strait of
Formosa, to observe the hardy maritime habits
of the people of Fokien. Though the sea, as
usual there, was running very high, numbers
of fishing-boats were visible in all directions.
The second coasting voyage of Mr. GutzlaflF
was in the Amherst ; but his third and most
t
I
YELLOW SEA. 217
adventurous one was performed in the Sylph, a
email opium vesBel, which quitted Canton at
E very unfavourable seasonj on the 20th of Oc-
■tober, and had to contend with adverse gales
and currents the whole way up to the Yellow
This voyage fully proves that extreme
cold, — in fact, quite an arctic climate, — prevails
on the coast of the Peking province during
winter. On the way up they were continually
advised not to proceed further north, as they
would there fall in with ice, a prediction which
was fully verified. The ship did not reach the
north of the Yellow sea until more than a
month after quitting Canton. " Perhaps in no
part of the world (says Mr. GutzlaflF) does the
«ea retreat so rapidly and constantly as in
X^eaou-tuTig and Pe-cke-le. Every year adds
to the land some fertile acres, and makes the
navigation more dangerous. In bearing away
to the westward — to h&ve a look at the great
wall, the ship ran upon a sand-bank. A strong
northerly wind blowing at the time, the water
I decreased until the ship was left nearly high
and dry, and fell over on her beam-ends. To
VOL. 11. L
218 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
add to their peril — the Lascar crew was entirely
disabled from exertion by the excessive cold.
In going a distance of twenty-five miles for
assistance^ one of the boat's crew was frozen to
death. During their absence a southerly wind
sprung up ; the water returned and floated the
ship> which was thus unexpectedly saved.
The cold had coated the vessel both inside
and outside with solid ice — ^and on the 3rd of
December they were glad to escape from such
a climate. In steering for the port of Shanghae
on their way to the souths and at the distance
of eighty miles from the coast of Keangn^n,
they nearly ran upon one of the shoals formed
by the Yellow river ; and this is the character
of the Chinese coast nearly everywhere to the
north of Chusan> excepting the promontory of
Shantung. Near the mouth of the Woosung
river; on which Shanghae is built, they had
the good fortune to save the crew of a junk
in distress, and carried the men into port.
This was probably the cause of their being
better treated than is usually the case. With
the exception of commercial dealings, the visi-
SHAN6HAE — TSOONGMING CHAPOO. 2l9
tors were allowed to communicate with the
people. The population appeared immense^ and
to judge from the great numbers of children,
must be on the increase. Mr. Gutzlaff here
repeats his conviction that Shanghae is the
greatest maritime emporium of China, and this
seems very possible from the situation. It stands
just to the south of the island Tsoongmingy and
of the mouth of the Yangtsekeangy communi-
cating closely with the cities of Soochow and
Hdngckow, and with the grand Canal. More
than a thousand junks were anchored in the
river.
On the 5th of January they quitted Shang-
hae, and steered for CkapoOy a harbour in the
northern extremity of ChSkeang province.
Until reaching the high lands which form this
port, the whole coast from the Yellow river is
described as being so flat as scarcely to be vi-
sible from the ship when she was near shore.
The sea here, as well as to the northward of
Shantung, appears receding from the land, so
that the flats form a barrier to the coast, and
are many of them dry at low water. They
220 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
tried to go on shore a few miles to the north of
Chapoo> but even the boat got aground, and
they must have waded above a mile through
the mud before they reached the shore.
Chapoo is the only place from which the
Chinese commerce with Japan^ an imperial mo-
nopoly> is carried on. The harbour is described
as tolerable^ but with a great rise and fall of
the tide. With its suburbs the town is nearly
five miles in circuit, built in a square, and in-
tersected by numerous canals which are con*
nected with the great city of Hdngchow. No-
thing, says Mr. Gutzlaff, can exceed the pictu-
resque appearance of the surrounding region.
The whole country was covered with lofty pa-
godas, and a multitude of temples and other
ornamental buildings. This neighbourhood
constitutes, in fact, the pride of China, and has
often been visited by the Tartar emperors from
Peking. Chapoo is not more than seventy or
eighty miles from Chusan.
In the account which is given of the party
landing at this place from the ship, the bold-
ness displayed by the strangers is not less sur-
AMOY. 231
prising than the forbearance (for it could
hardly in this instance be i'ear) of the Chinese.
An armed force was drawn up along the
shore. The soldiers had matchlocks and burn-
ing matches ready for a discharge. A Tartar
general had placed himself in a temple to su-
perintend the operations. Being accustomed
to the fire of Chinese batteries, which seldom
do hurt, and knowing that their matchlocks
cannot hit, we passed the line of their defence
in peace. The soldiers retreated, and the
crowds of people in the rear being very denaCj
great part of the camp was over-run and
pressed down, so that the tents fell to the
"ground. After this outset, nothing disagree-
able occurred ; we were at full liberty to walk
abroad and converse with the people, and were
only occasionally troubled with the clamorous
entreaties of some officers."
Before quitting the subject of the eastern
coast, the seat of war and of negociation,
Bome more particular notice must be taken of
the island of Amoy, a place of considerable
importance on various grounds. It is situated
922 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
above the twenty-fourth degree of north lati-
tude, nearly half-way between Canton and
Chusan, and is the port by which the Chinese
keep up their chief communication with For-
mosa. The large quantities of rice, which an-
nually proceed from the last-mentioned great
island to the opposite coasts, being cut off by
our cruisers, might serve to supply an expedi-
tion with the commodity which forms the chief
support of the native Indian Sepoy.
The Chinese, in passing over from Amoy to
Formosa, make use of the Ponghoo isles,
(Pescadores) as a guide and a resting-placew
These lie just in the route between Amoy and
Tae-wanrfoOt the capital of the colony, which
is about thirty leagues distant from the oppo-
site coast of Fokien. The Jesuit P^re de
MaiUa, who went over to survey and map the
island of Formosa for the Chinese emperor,
has given us an account of his voyage. They
quitted Amoy in a squadron of war junks on
the 3rd of April, but were immediately obliged
by bad weather to put into Kinmun, another
island a little to the eastward, of which the
223
port is named Leaoulo. Being detained here six
days until the 9th, they set sail for the opposite
coast, steering nearly due east on account of
the strong southerly current which constantly
sets through the channel. The next day made
the Ponghoo isles, where de MaiUa states he
found a Chinese force of a thousand men sta-
tioned. Though they are mere barren roclis
the principal island contains a good harbour,
which in stress of weather might prove im-
portant to our ships passing through the chan-
nel. The Chinese find this harbour necessary
for their war-junks employed as a guard on
Formosa, since the latter great insular colony,
strange to say, contains no safe port where a
vessel drawing more than eight feet water can
anchor. As a station of commerce, therefore,
Formosa would seem to be out of the question,
' independently of its great size and extent.
Al>out forty or fifty miles to the northward
of Amoy, and near the parallel of twenty-five
degrees on the Chinese coast, lies the great
city of Seuenchow, or Chinchew, a famous place
L for the opium trade. The junks from this port
224 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
are the most adventurous of the empire, and
sail south to the Malay archipelago, Java, and
Sincapore. The only place of note on the east
coast that remains to be noticed is FH-chow-foo
in latitude twenty-six degrees, the capital of
Fokien, and the residence of the governor-ge-
neral of that province and ChiSkedng. It is
built on the river Min, which is navigable to
about ten miles' distance of the city, for large
ships. Mr. Gutzlaff, in his visit to that port,
found it answer all the expectations which had
been formed of it as an emporium for the trade
in black teas. The large river on which the
town is built communicates with the districts
where those teas are grown and manufactured ;
and were the trade allowed to us at this point
of the coast, we might have them conveyed on
board in boats from the farms where the teas
are cultivated.
By the restrictions which have confined the
tea trade to Canton, we have been obliged to
pay for the transport of the black teas over an
immense distance, in which lofty mountains
are to be crossed, and shallow rivers navigated
BEST POSITION FOR TEA TRADE. 220
' with great difficulty, involving the additional
charge of about 25 s. in every pecul weight,
(133 lbs.,) or about 200,0001. on the annual
supply. Mr. Ball, formerly inspector of teas
to the company at Canton, first drew attention
to this subject many years ago, and his calcu-
lations seem to have been verified since. Should
we, therefore, ever be in a situation to choose
I the most advantageous position for the tea
[ trade, there seems to be no doubt of Fo-chow-
foo being the port selected. But it is not on
account of teas only that the city in question
has been singled out as the most favourable for
the British trade; some calculations and esti-
[ mates exist to show tlmt for our woollen and
I other manufactures, Fo-cliow~foo must be in-
I finitely superior to Canton, as being much
[ nearer to the places of consumption. In this
I single view of the question, however, and
I apart from the main article of teas, it is most
[ probable that Shanghae is superior to Fij-
I. chow-foo.
A general view has now been talien of the
l3
226 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
most important ports and harbours on the
Chinese coast between Peking and CSanton.
The progress of events at the present moment-
ous crisis can alone determine what is to be
the nature of our future connexion with them,
as well as their relative advantages and defects
for purposes of either commerce or war. A
change from Canton, or, at least, ports in addi-
tion to Canton have long been considered as
highly desirable, if not absolutely necessary.
Free trade, it was thought by some, was the
grand nostrum by which all our grievances in
China were to be remedied. Free trade was
to extend the consumption of British manu-
factures, and open to us additional ports on the
coast. Its first effects, on the contrary, have
been rather to diminish than increase the
importation of our woollen manufactures, to
promote every species of smuggling, but of
opium especially, to embroil us with the Chi-
nese, and finally to drive us out from Canton,
the single port at which we had prosperously
traded for two centuries. This has been the
HOW WILL THE EMPEROR ACT ? 927
short worli of five years. All that ia certain
at present, is bad ; and all that is good is con-
tingent upon events which nobody can foresee,
because the course pursued is entirely without
precedent, either in our own case, or that of-
any other European nation.
Will the emperor of China, from feelings of
compassion for the sufferings which our fleets
and armies can inflict on his cities and subjects
of the coast, enter into a bonii fide treaty with
us to save them ; or will he, with the same un-
concern as has been shown by his predecessors,
leave them to their fate, and only withdraw him-
self still further from communication with us ?
TTie obstacles to his open submission are almost,
if not quite, insuperable. The^re«i{<^e, by which
a handfiil of Tartars have kept down the mil-
lions of China would be utterly dissolved, and
he would perhaps have more to apprehend from
his own subjects by such submission, than he
has to fear from us by obstinate perseverance.
It is quite clear that active resistance to our
arms is out of the question ; whatever our ex-
tensive fleets and armies can reach and attack.
228 SKETCHES OF CHINA*
must yield; but it is the passive resistance,
the vis inertuB of such a monstrous body» aided
by the want of sympathy with Europeans,
and the most absolute power possessed over its
subjects by the native government, that we
have to look to. Here it must be confessed
the view is not encouraging.
229
CHAPTER XVIII.
Invasion of Burmese empire — ^Retreat of Chinese cut off —
Entirely defeated by Burmese — Survivors made slaves-
Religious inviolability of northern frontier — Military sys-
tem and wars of the Chinese — Fortified places — Assist-
ance of Europeans — Conquest by Manchows — Caused by
internal division — Shorter reign of Mongols — Chinese
navy — Structure of junks — Fights with Ladrones — ^Pre-
sent circumstances favourable to their revival.
The moral power and influence of the Chinese
empire over the surrounding nations may be
viewed as a standing miracle, in connexion
with the real weakness and inefl&ciency of its
military institutions. Nor have signal in-
stances been wanting where this weakness and
ineflSiciency have been betrayed in a manner
that might have seemed calculated to dispel
the illusion which for centuries has protected
the country from foreign aggression. Major
Symes, in his * Embassy to Burma/ has given
a correct account of the defeat and destruction
of a numerous Chinese army in the latter part
of the past century.
230 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
That ambitious and arrogant government
(as Symes observes) had planned the subju-
gation of the Burmese^ intending to add the
dominion of the Irawaddy, and the fertile
plains of Mien-tien,* to their empire^ already
stretched beyond the limits to which any
government can solidly extend the force of
restrictive authority. In the beginning of the
year 1767 the governor of the Burmese pro-
vince bordering on Yunnan, sent intimation
to the golden-footed monarch, that a Chinese
army was advancing from the frontier, and had
already passed the mountains that divide the two
countries. This intelligence was no sooner com-
municated than it was confirmed by the actual
invasion. The Chinese forces, computed at
50,000 men, advanced by unremitted marches.
Leaving the» province of Bhamoo to the west,
they penetrated by a town called Gouptong, near
to which there is a mart where the Chinese
and Burmese meet and barter the commodities
* This, and Awa^ are the Chinese names for Burma.
I never heard of Zomiern^ the word used by Symes.
RETREAT OF CHINKSE CUT OFF. 231
of their respective countries. This mart was
taken and plundered by the ChineBe.
The Burmese monarch in the mean while
appointed two separate armies : one, consisting
of 10,000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, under
the conduct of a leader named Amiou-mee,
took the direct road towards the Chinese,
through the district of Tagoung ; the other
army, of much greater force, was committed to
Tengiarhou, a general of high rank and repu-
tation. This latter was directed to make a
circuitous march over hills lying more to the
southward, to endeavour if possible to get
into the rear of the Chinese and prevent their
escape. The division of Amiou-mee first met
the army near a town called Peen-gee, where
they encamped, within eight miles of the
Chinese army : on the following day a partial
action took place, in which the Burmese were
worsted, and obliged to retreat to the south-
ward of Peen-gee. The Chinese, animated by
this first success, and ignorant of the approach
of Tengia-bou, supposed that they should meet
no further impediment until they reached the
232 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Burmese capital. With that persuasion tliejr
continued their march, and deviating from the
most frequented road, probably for the con-
venience of forage, pursued another route.
Amiou-mee, though repulsed, still kept hover-
ing ou the skirts of the Chinese army, which
had proceeded only two days farther to a
town called Chibou, when the division com-
manded by Tengia-bou suddenly appeared in
their rear. The governor of a fort on the
frontier approached at the same time with his
party: thus inclosed on all sides, a retreat
became impracticable, and to advance was
desperate.
The Tartar cavalry, on whose vigour and ac-
tivity the Chinese army depended for provisions,
could no longer venture out, either to procure
supplies or protect convoys. In this situation the
Burmese attacked the enemy with impetuosity ;
while, on the other hand, the defence made by
the Chinese was equally resolute. The con-
flict had lasted three days, when the Chinese
in an effort of despair tried to cut their way
through the divisions commanded by Amiou-
I
ENTIRELY DEFEATED BY BURMESE. 2S6
mee, which occupied the road by which retreat
seemed least difficult. This last attempt
proved fatal ; Amiou-mee's troops, certain of
support, maintained their ground, until the
coming up of Tengia-bou, which decided the
event of the day. The harassed Chinese now
sunk under the pressure of superior numbers,
and the carnage was dreadful. Death or
rigorous slavery is the certain doom of those
whom the Burmese subdue in battle. Of the
Chinese army not a man returned to his native
country ; about 2,500 escaped the sword ; these
were conducted in fetters to the capital, where
an exclusive quarter in the suburbs of the city
was assigned for their residence. They who
did not understand any particular handicraft
were employed in making gardens, and in the
business of husbandry ; mechanics and arti-
ficers were compelled to ply their trades accord-
ing to the royal pleasure, with no other reward
for their labour than a bare subsistence.
The north-west frontier of China owes its
freedom from disturbance in some measure to
a cause which I do not remember to have seen
i
234 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
noticed. Thibet, and the neighbouring portion
of Tartary bordering on the great wall are the
head-quarters of the Budhist religion. The
former especially is the patrimony of the church
of Budha, and therefore held in the highest
veneration by all the tribes of Tartar descent.
To march into those countries with hostile de-
signs against China, would be like any Euro-
pean nation violating the patrimony of St.
Peter during the dark ages. The Chinese
government, therefore, affords every counte-
nance and protection to the Grand Lama of
Thibet, the papal head of the Budhist religion,
with his hierarchy of unmarried priests. The
natural features of the country are likewise a
great defence, as a continuation of very high
mountains extends from Yunnan to the great
wall.
As there was once in France a legal or
forensic knighthood, so (as we have already
observed in Chapter XIII.) there is in China
a class of military doctors; and whether
the former system may or may not have pro-
duced some martial lawyers, the latter certainly
MILITARY SYSTEM AND WARS.
235
gives rise to many unmilitary and tiinid soldiers,
if we are to judge by the conduct of those hi-
therto opposed to us— though it is but fair to
make due allowances for their defective means
of opposition, and the inferiority of their arms
and discipline. It may be interesting at the
present moment to enter into some detail of
the military system and wars of the celestial
empire.
In the almost total absence of actual war-
fare, the Chinese soldiers are periodically ex-
ercieed by their commanders. Their field-days
Bfinsist in tumultuous and disorderly marches
in the train of their mandarins, or in sham
fights which are conducted (like their theatrical
performances) with the din of gongs and other
noisj' instruments. To this is joined some
practice in drawing the bow, and in the use of
the sword. Their reviews consist partly in the
examination of their matchlocks, their swords,
and arrows ; and, when they have any, of their
helmets and padded armour. As far as our
experience went in the embassy, their offensive
^arms were always in a wretched condition.
236 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
The greater number of the soldiers are at li-
berty to follow some trade or occupation, as
they are, in fact, a mere militia periodically
called out. Exceptions occur only among the
Tartar troops, and those Chinese who are em-
ployed as a standing police or guard. So far
from there being any necessity to enrol soldiers
by compulsion, or by bounty money, the pro-
fession is eagerly sought after as a favor, and
as an addition to a person's means of liveli-
hood.
Of such soldiers as these it is computed that
there may be about seven hundred thousand
throughout the whole empire, with about eigh-
teen thousand military mandarins of all grades.
"These troops (observes one of the Jesuits
more than a century ago) appear pretty well
clothed and found, and make a good show in
a march or a review ; but they are greatly behind
our troops in Europe, whether considered on
the score of courage or of discipline. The least
reverse is sufficient to intimidate them, and to
put them to flight." The same observations
must be infinitely more applicable at the pre-
MILITARY SYSTEM AND WARS. 237
Bent day, wlien the Tartars themselves have been
assimilated to the Chinese, while the military
and naval art in Europe has made immense
advances. A long and profound peace of nearly
two centuries, the universal preference of let-
ters to arms, and the unmilitary education of
all ranks, can be very ill fitted to form sol-
diers.
The only occupation of the Chinese army,
with very few exceptions, since the Tartar con-
quest, has been to overawe popular revolts, and
keep the people in order, The board at Peking,
called the Ping-poo, or " military tribunal,"
has control chiefly over the armed police of
the empire, that is, the Chinese as distinguished
from the Tartar troops. It has couriers always
ready to be despatched to the provinces, and
to convey its secret orders. Banditti and male-
fiictors of every kind are traced out with
almost unerring certitude, and all experience
bears testimony to the extreme efficiency of the
police of the country. Qualities of a very dif-
ferent and much higher order would be re-
quired to fit this standing army to meet a foreign
238 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
invasion of European troops. At the same
time> it must be supposed that to the north
of the great wall there are Tartar soldiers
of a superior description to those of China
proper, as it is said that such Russian troops
as have made their way to the remote frontier
have sometimes been beaten by them. The
probabilities are, that it was the war of one
tribe of Cossacks against another, and nothing
more.
As regards the walled cities and other for-
tified places, the whole defensive art of the
Chinese consists in a high wall, which, upon
being breached from below, must speedily fall
by its own incumbent weight ; and form with
its ruins an inclined plane to facilitate the
assault. There is generally, in addition, a good
sized ditch filled with water ; and to such be-
siegers as the Chinese have until now been
accustomed to deal with, that is to say, people
like themselves, their means of defence are
sufficiently ample. The little that is known at
Peking concerning the art of founding cannon
was entirely derived from the tuition of the
CONQUEST BY BIANCHOWS. 239
Jesuit Ferdinand Verbiest. The reverend fa-
ther, being called upon by the emperor to assist
him with his art against the enemy who just
then ravaged the coasts of the empire, founded
upwards of an hundred guns, which on trial
proved so good that the Jesuit was raised to
high honor by the Chinese sovereign. Verbiest
at the same time composed a treatise in the
language of the country, containing all neces-
sary rules, with diagrams to illustrate them.
Should our war chance to be protracted, it is
quite possible that the Chinese might engage
the assistance of Europeans against us ; for it is
an established maxim of theirs to oppose one
set of foreigners against another.
There is every reason to suppose that the
empire is now quite as weak and unwarlike as
when it was last conquered by the Manchows.
These last have become entirely assimilated
with the conquered, whom indeed they could
never have overcome, but for the divisions that
existed at the time, and the aid of extraor-
dinary circumstances. At the present juncture
240 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
the detail is curious, and may be given at some
length.
In the year 1643, the Chinese army was
near the great wall, occupied against the king
of the Manchow, or Eastern Tartars. These,
in order to take vengeance for the injustice
suffered by their nation in trading with the
Chinese, and the contempt with which their
representations had been treated by the cour^
entered the territory of Leaovrtung in con-
siderable force. The war continued for some
time with various success. Towns were be-
sieged, and irruptions made into the Chinese
territory, but with no decisive result in relation
to the ultimate objects of the war. The Em-
peror Tsoong chingy destined to be the last of
the Ming, or Chinese dynasty, whose brave
founder had rid his country of the Mongol
Tartars, passed his time at Peking in a fatal
security. The unjust punishment to which he
had condemned a minister in high credit and
influence at his court, and the unrelenting
severity with which he exacted all kinds of tax-
WARS OF THE CHINESE. 241
ation from his people at a period of unusual
scarcity, had spread a spirit of discontent
through the country, and rendered its inhabit-
ants ripe for revolt
A Chinese named Ly-^koong-tse^ a native of
the province Szechuen, and characterised by
uncommon hardihood and enterprise, profited
by this state of things to put himself at the
head of a powerful rebellion. His adherents
multiplied daily, until he found himself in a
condition to capture several considerable towns.
He next made himself master of some entire
provinces, gaining over the people by exempt-
ing them from the heavy imposts, with which
they had been burdened, and placing over them
magistrates who were instructed to establish
his authority by the moderation with which
they administered it. On the other hand, he
sacked every place that offered the least re-
sistance, and abandoned it to the fury of his
soldiers.
At length, having conquered the populous
province of Hon&n, he penetrated into that of
Shensy, where he found himself in a condition
VOL. !!• ^
24S SKETCHES OF CHINA.
to declare himself emperor^ assuming the name
of Tienrshun, or "He who obeyed Heaven,"
in delivering the people from oppression. When
the usurper found himself in the neighbour-
hood of Peking^ where the divisions among the
chief mandarins had favored his deigns, he
thought of the easiest means of mastering the
capital. Peking was then deprived of its prinr
cipal troops, already engaged against the Man*
chows on the frontier; several of the chief
persons fietvored his design; and he had the
address to convey into the city some confident
tial agents in the character of merchants, who
were ready to act on his side whenever he pre-
sented himself before the walls.
These measures were attended with success ;
he had no sooner appeared than one of the
gates was opened to the usurper before day-
light. The sUght resistance that met him
being put down, he traversed the city and pro-
ceeded straight to the palace. The outer wall
was already forced, when the unhappy emperor
became aware of his fate, and to attempt flight
was impossible. Betrayed and abandoned by
CONQUEST BY THE MANCHOWS.
243
I
his court, and considering death as a lesser
evil than to fall alive into the hands of a re-
bellious subject, he retired into his gardens with
his daughter, whom he first slew by a stroke
of his sabre, and then hanged himself to a tree.
Everything was now at the disposal of the con-
queror, who put to death some of the chief
mandarins that had opposed him, and levied
large contributions from others. But Woo-
sankwei, general of the army, acting against
the Manchows on the frontier, refused to ac-
knowledge the usurper. The father of the ge-
neral was at Peking, — an old man, venerable
from his age and dignity. Him the new em-
peror commanded to appear, and to follow in
the train of the projected expedition.
The usurper proceeded at tlie head of his
forces to reduce Woosankwei, who had shut
himself up in one of the cities of Leaoutuny.
Having laid siege to the wallsj he caused the
aged father of Woosankwei to be brought in
front of them, loaded with fetters, and threat-
ened that he would put him to death in view
of his son, unless the latter gave himself up
m2
244 SKETCHES OF CHINA*
with his army. In this desperate choice of
difficulties, the Chinese general allowed liis
patriotism to prevail over his filial ties ; while
his old parent applauded the choice, and sub--
mitted to the cruel sentence of the tyrant.
This atrocious proceeding served only to in-
spire the Chinese general with a strong desire
for revenge. Unable, however, to make any
effectual head against the superior numbers of
the usurper s army, he resolved to throw him-
self on the generosity of the Manchow Tartar
king, with whom a peace was soon concluded^
and an alliance against the new emperor. The
Tartar was so well pleased with this promising
scheme, which flattered his ambitious hopes
with the chance of ultimate mastery over both
the contending parties, that he soon put him-
self at the head of a large army, and invaded
the country.
The usurper, informed of this formidable
coalition, did not venture to hazard a direct
opposition, but retired in haste to Peking,
where he loaded a number of waggons with
the spoils of the palace, to which he set fire.
CONQUEST BY THE MANCHOWS.
245
I
I
and then retreated towards Shensy, where he
disappeared and was never more heard of. The
Tartar king instead of disbanding his army
remained at Peking, where he was received
with acclamations by all ranks, and looked
upon as the public benefactor. He played his
part so well that he received the offer of the
empire ; but a sudden sickness, and the ap-
proach of death, prevented his enjoying the
fruits of his success. He had time, however,
before he died, to nominate for his successor
his son Shunchy, a boy of only six years old,
whose education, and the government of the
state during his minority, were confided to an
uncle of the prince, named Amawang.
This person had the courage and address to
subdue the greater part of the provinces which
refused the dominion of the Tartar dynasty ;
and, above all, the fidelity to give up the reins
of government to his nephew, as soon as the
latter had attained the proper age. The young
emperor soon proved himself so capable of
reigning that he gained the adherence of all
parties ; and he so united the Tartars and Chi-
246 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
nese as to break down some of the chief baiv
riers of national distinction. He sustained the
greatness and prosperity of the empire during
liis short reign in a manner which created ad-
miration during his life, and caused his early
death at the age of twenty-four years to be
deeply regretted. He left a son to succeed him,
whose age was only eight years, but wlio be-
came afterwards the greatest monarch that ever
ruled China, under t3ie title of K&nghy, and
with the singular good fortune to enjoy a reign
of sixty years in uninterrupted and increasing
prosperity.
It would thus appear &at the Manchow
race obtained their first possession of the tlirone
of China without fighting a single battle, and
not so much by the force of arms as of circum-
stances. Called in at the outset during a period
of civil anarchy, and when there was no legiti-
mate head of the nation existing, tiiey took
quiet possession of die palace, and subsequently
subdued the Chinese by the aid of the Chinese
themselves. The change to a foreign dynasty
was made with less violence than generally
SHORT EEIGN OF THE MONGOLS.
247
I
attends an internal transfer of the throne;
and the Manchows had the sagacity to esta^
blish their power by a wise and moderate
system of government ; being distinguished by
a series of the most prudent and excellent
monarchs that have ever ruled the country.
Their strongest measure was obliging the
Chinese to adopt the Tartar costume. During
the two late reigns changes of an unfavourable
aspect have taken place ; and it remains to be
seen whether internal insurrection or foreign
invasion is to overthrow a government that has
already existed in profound peace for nearly
two hundred years.
The fllongol dominion, on the other hand,
which was established by violence and absolute
right of conquest, endured little more than
eighty years. The three last sovereigns of
the previous Chinese family of Soong were all
children, whom the Tartar conqueror hunted
down one by one, and destroyed in the course
of a few years. The last remnant of the
Chinese court, with the infant emperor, took
refuge on the coast of Canton, and was at last
248 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
driven tx> seek shelter in a fleet of war-junks
at sea. Pursued by the Tartar squadron, ihey
were overtaken among the islands which have
become so familiar to our vessels in the neigh-
bourhood of Macao, where, after a feeble resist-
ance, the whole of the Chinese were destroyed
to the number of many thousands ; while the
principal persons, including the young emperor
and his mother, perished in the waves.
Considering the important part which the
navy of China has acted at different epochs of
its history, and the great extent of the eastern
and southern coasts, it is a matter of some sur-
prise that its weakness and inefficiency should
exceed even that of the military establish-
ments of the country. At this day the Chinese
war-junks answer exactly to the description
given of them by the Jesuit P6re de Mailla,
who proceeded, in the year 1715, on board an
imperial squadron to make a geographical sur-
vey of the island of Formosa. Their squadron,
he observes, consisted of fifteen war-junks, in
each of which were fifty soldiers, commanded
by a military mandarin and four subaltern
CHINESE NAVY. 249
officers. "Imagine not," says the reverend
father, *' that these vessels of war can be com-
pared with our s. The largest, are not more
than from two to three hundred tons measure-
ment. They are in fact great flat-bottomed
barges ^ith two masts."
The head is unfurnished with any bowsprit,
and the bows are curled up aloft into two
wing-like appendages, between which the
cables are worked, and on the outside of which
are painted the two great eyes which have, in
precisely the same manner, been remarked on
the models of ancient Egyptian vessels found
in the tombs at Thebes. The poop or stern
is also elevated, and open in the lower part to
form a kind of bay or recess for the rudder,
intended to protect it from the blows of the
sea. This rudder is not hung on pintles, but
suspended by ropes, which serve to raise or
depress it. Of the two masts, that which may
be styled the mainmast is near the centre of
the vessel, and the foremast much farther
forward. Their respective dimensions are
nearly as two to three. There are no top-
250 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
masts^ and therefore only one sail on each
mast, which bears nearly the whole strain of
the wind acting on the ponderous mat sail,
since there are no shrouds, and but few stays.
Although the outside length of these vessels
may sometimes be a hundred feet, every portion
of them is unfit for mounting cannon> except
a kind of broad open gangway near the main-
mast, where three or four guns are occasionally
huddled together on each hand. The insides
of these men-of-war are crowded with Chinese,
and encumbered with all kinds of loose wood-
work and bamboo poles, which convert the
effects of a shot into those of a shell. We
cannot therefore wonder, under all the circum-
stances, that thirty of them were utterly un-
equal to cope with two of our sloops of war.
The attention of the government was long since
drawn to the weakness of the imperial navy, in
consequence of its repeated failures against the
pirates on the coast ; and the truth was scarcely
attempted to be disguised, except in the pomp-
ous edicts addressed to the English. In the
year 1833, a paper written by the emperor
CHINESE NATT. 251
himself admitted the fact. "The navy," ob-
served the vermilion pencil, " is an empty sound ;
there is the name of going to ses without the
reality. Cases of piracy are perpetually oc-
curring, and even barbarian barks anchor in
our inner seas without the least notice. Go-
vernment appoints soldiers for the protection
of the people ; and naval captains are not less
requisite than soldiers on land. But the navy
has lately fallen off, as appears by many cases
of failure on the seas."
The detailed accounts which we possess of
the warfare between the squadrons of Ladrone
junks and the imperial navy are especially
curJouB at the present time, when the latter
have been opposed to ourselves. Almost on
every occasion the pirates seem to have gained
the advantage, and the excessive cruelties which
they exercised on the vancjnished, appear at
length to have intimidated the emperor's
war-junks in such a manner as to paralyse
their efforts, and confine them altogether to
their own harbours ; until the Ladrones were
finally divided against each other, and the sur-
'— — -^ - ^
252 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
viving portion bribed to submission by tibfe
government. When the imperial navy first
attempted to subdue them by force, twenty-
eight junks were taken by the pirates, and
the remaining twelve escaped by flight. In
two succeeding battles above twenty were lost.
At length an admiral was sent against them
with above a hundred sail of all sizes; but
from him the Ladrones escaped. He at length
was taken by surprise, lost twenty-five of his
vessels, and killed himself in despair.
The government next attempted the starva-
tion system, by cutting off all supplies of pro-
visions. The coasting-trade, in 1809, was put
a stop to, and every junk prohibited from put-
ting to sea. This only aggravated the atro-
cities of the pirates by driving them to despera-
tion. The helpless towns along the sea coast,
and in the rivers, were pillaged by them, and
laid under contribution with circumstances of
the utmost cruelty. The governor of Canton
moved to the neighbourhood of Macao, and
entered into an agreement with the Portuguese
of that place to supply six ships, manned with
THE LADRONES. 253
730 men, and equipped for the space of half a
year, for the consideration of 80,000 taels to be
paid by the Chinese government. We have the
testimony of Mr. Glasspoole, an Englishman
then in the povirer of the Ladrones, as to the
extreme care with which these Portuguese
avoided too close a collision with the pirates.
That gentleman gives a circumstantial
account of a cruise of more than five hundred
sail of different sizes to levy contributions on
the towns and villages up the rivers. They
passed in sight of the English merchant-ships
at anchor under Chuenpee, but ignorant of
his being on board this squadron. "The
chief," he says, "called me, pointed to the
ships, and told the interpreter to bid me look
at them, for I should never see them again.
About noon we entered a river to the west-
ward of the Bogue, three or four miles from
the entrance. We passed a large town, situated
on the side of a beautiful hill, and tributary
to the Ladrones. The inhabitants saluted them
with gongs as they passed."
A few days afterwards the fleet weighed at
254 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
night, dropped with the tide up the river^ and
anchored before a town surrounded by a thick
wood. Early in the morning the Ladrones
assembled in row-boats and landed^ then gave
a shout, and rushed into the town sword in
hand. The inhabitants fled to the adjacent
hills, in numbers apparently superior to the
Ladrones. The old and the skk, who were
unable to fly or to resist, were either made
prisoners or most inhumanly butchered. The
boats continued passing and repassing from the
junks to the shore in quick succession, laden
with booty, and the men besmeared with blood.
Two hundred and fifty women and several
children were made prisoners and sent on board
difierent vessels. They were unable to escape
with the men, owing to the custom of cramp-
ing the feet. As much as ten dollar^ were
given by the chief to his people for the head
of every Chinese man killed ; and Mr. Glass-
poole himself told the writer of this, that he
used to see them return on board with several
heads suspended round their waists by the
long queue, or tail.
THE PORTUGUESE INVINCIBLE SQUADRON. 355
Some tdme previous to tliis gendeman s ran-
som^ the pirate fleet in passing Lintin was
chased by three Portuguese ships and a brig
which styled themselves "The invincible
squadron cruising in the Tigris to annihilate
the Ladrones." The black and red squadrons
of pirates now united^ but soon again separated ;
the black standing out to the eastward^ and
the red being anchored in a bay under Lantao,
the island which we have been lately told
the emperor promises to cede to the British.
Here they were attacked by the Portuguese,
while seven junks of the pirates, being all that
were then fit for action, were hauled outside,
and moored head and stern across the bay.
The Portuguese ships, in passing this line,
each fired her broadside, but without eflfect,
the shot falling short. The Ladrones returned
not a gun, but waited their nearer approach,
of which, however, they were disappointed;
for the Portuguese retired, lamenting in
their public report that there was not suf-
ficient water for them to engage closer.
Yet Mr. Glasspoole declares that the outside
256 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
junks lay in four fathoms^ which he sounded
himself.
The same bay under Lantao was the scene
of a nine days' blockade, prolonged by that
species of warfare which consists in either party
avoiding as much as possible all unnecessary
danger ; but of the two the ladrones certainly
displayed the most resolution. On the 20th
November an immense fleet of mandarin vessels
was seen standing in for the bay. As they
approached they formed a line and stood closer
in, each vessel as she discharged her guns
tacking to join the rear and re-load. They
kept up a constant fire for about two hours,
when one of the largest vessels was blown up
by a firebrand thrown from a ladrone junk;
after which they remained at a more respectful
distance, but continued firing without intermish
sion for two days, when it fell calm. The
ladrones then towed out seven large vessels
with some hundred row-boats to board
them ; but a breeze springing up, they made
sail and escaped. When the ladrones returned
into the bay and anchored, the Portuguese and
PIOHTS WITH LADRONES. 257
mandarins followed, and continued firing during
that night and the following day.
This went on for some time, until on the
night of the eighth day of blockade they sent
in several fire-vessels, which if properly con-
structed must have done great execution.
They came very regularly into the centre of the
fleet, two and two, burning furiously ; one of
them ran alongside the junk in which Mr.
Glasspoole was, but they succeeded in booming
her off. The ladrones towed them all on shore,
extinguished the fire, and broke them up for
fire-wood, just as our fleet lately did in the
Capsingmoon harbour. The Portuguese sent
a dispatch to the governor of Macao, saying
that they had destroyed at least one-third of the
ladrone fleet, and hoped soon to effect their
purpose by totally annihilating them. On the
29th November the pirates being all ready for
sea, weighed and stood boldly out, bidding
defiance to the invincible squadron and the im-
perial fleet, which consisted of ninety-three
war-junks, six Portuguese ships, a brig and a
schooner. The ladrones chased them for two
258 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
or three liours^ keeping up a constant fire ; but,
finding they did not come up with them, thejr
hauled their wind and stood to the eastward.
During the nine days' blockade the pirates com-
pleted all their rq)air8, lost not a single vessel,
and only thirty or forty men out of many
thousands. One American prisoner was killed,
and Mr. Glasspoole himself had two narrow
escapes, notwithstanding that the chieFs wife
sprinkled him with garlic water, which t^^
considered an effective charm agamst shot
The time for the liberation of the English
prisoners at len^h arrived. A note was re-
ceived from the captain of the company's cruiser
Antelope, sent in search of them, and the ne-
cessary arrangements were soon made. The
ransom consisted of bales of cloth, chests of
opium, several barrels of gunpowder, and a
sum of money in dollars. On the 7th Decem-
ber Mr. Glasspoole and the seamen captured with
him were restored, after a miserable captivity
among these freebooters of eleven weeks and
three days, during which they had ample time
to observe their habits and mode of warfare.
FUTURE PROSPECTS. 259
There never was a state of things more fitted
to revive the ladrones on the coast of China
than the present condition of the opium trade,
and the crippled circumstances of the imperial
navy since the commencement of the English
quarrel. Captain EUiot says in lus proclama-
tion directed against JLin — " He found these
great provinces tranquil and flourishing. In
less than a year he has reduced them to the
very verge of ruin and insurrection ; and piracy
and robbery stalk abroad unpunished."
260
CHAPTER XIX.
MiBcalculations of LIN — Arrival of armament — ^Blockade of
Canton— Chusan attacked and taken — Deserted by in-
habitants — Canton mandarins elated by impunity —
Arrival of the admiral — ^Letter refused at Amoy — ^Attadc
on unarmed boat — Chastised by the Blonde — Letter re-
fused at Ningpo — Mr. Stanton seized at Macao — Chl^
nese beaten at the barrier — Admiral visits the Peiho—
Reception, and return to the south — Mortality at Chusan
' — Chinese make numerous prisoners — Prospects of n^;o-
ciation considered.
The year 1840 was destined to present the
extraordinary spectacle of a British naval and
military force on the coast of China, a region
so far removed from Europe that its existence
six hundred years ago was scarcely known, and
the faithful narrative of a long resident and
traveller in the country received as a tissue of
fables concerning another El Dorado. Our
own intercourse with this farthest extreme of
the Asiatic continent had scarcely exceeded
two centuries ; but in the course of that time
a trade had grown up, and become of such
importance to our commerce and revenue, that
MISCALCULATIONS OF LIN. 261
the loss of it could not be viewed in any other
light than as a national calamity. The series
of untoward events, which after a course of
about five years terminated in the British
trade being proscribed at Canton, it would be
useless to recapitulate in this place, or to debate
the question as to whence the disasters origin-
ated. The commerce being once lost, a pow-
erful and expensive armament was deemed
necessary for its recovery, and for the vin-
dication of injuries inflicted on the national
honour and interests. It will, therefore, be
more to our purpose to view the progress of
events, and to consider what has yet been done
towards restoring and improving the state
of our relations with China.
The course of rash and unadvised measures,
pursued by the imperial commissioner at Can-
ton, was clearly grounded on the notion that
the English were unprovided with any means
of redress, superior to those with which they
had hitherto so inadequately opposed the arro-
gance and oppression of his government. The
frequent failure of strong measures, adopted on
262 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
our side with insufficient powers, had evidently
emboldened the Chinese authorities; and it
was plain that the commissioner further pro*
ceeded on the presumption that, when the
English had been excluded from Canton, their
place would be amply supplied by Americans
and others. The commencement of a blockade
of the coast first opened his eyes to the error
of the last calculation ; and it was not until
the actual arrival of a powerful force, that he
began to relax in the confidence with which
he viewed all hostile threats and rumoursf, as
mere repetitions of those fuhninations which
repeated impunity had at last taught the Chi-
nese to disregard.
The imperial commissioner, (now appointed
viceroy of Canton,) accordingly pursued his
course of hostility in an uncompromising man-
ner, and to the best of his abilities. It may
be a question with some whether he authorised
the poisoning of the water and the tea ; but
the more open, though equally fruitless, at-
tempts on the fleet of merchantmen with fire-
rafts, (a favourite method of Chinese warfare,)
FIRE-RAFTS. 263
were three times repeated by the orders of
this implacable enemy of the British name.
It so happened^ that the last attack of fire-rafts
occurred on the night of the 9th of June, the
very day on which the Alligator, being the
first ship of the approaching expedition, arrived
off Macao. That frigate was in fact guided
to the anchorage at Capsingmoon by the light
of the burning rafts, and her boats were em-
ployed in towing them away from the fleet.
The attack had been concerted with all
imaginable secrecy, and scarcely had the signal
of danger been made than the fire burst out
from nearly twenty rafts, or rather boats,
chained together two-and-two, so that they
might swing athwart our ships with the tide,
which, as well as the wind, was in their favour.
The scene is described as very beautiful,
heightened as it was by the darkness of the
night. During their approach to the fleet, a
portion of the combustibles exploded like regu-
lar fireworks. The confiision was considerable
among the merchant shipping ; most of them
slipped their cables in the hurry to move out
264 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
of danger, and as the wind slackened several
cases of collision occurred among the numerous
vessels adrift at once in a narrow space.
No serious injury, however, was sustained^ and
this cowardly mode of warfare proved utterly
abortive ; though it could not be followed by
the condign punishment which attended the
more daring hostility of admiral Kw&n's squad-
ron of war-junks on a previous occasion. The
Chinese authorities at Canton had now done
their worst, and the arrival at last of the arma-
ment, which they had long treated as an empty
threat, disheartened them, for a time, from fur-
ther attempts at active mischief.
Captain Elliot appears to have been guided
by a sound discretion in fixing the quarrel on
Lin and his mandarin colleagues at Canton;
while he appealed to the justice of the empe-
ror against the misdeeds of those functionaries.
It is an old practice of the Peking court to
settle diflferences by sacrificing its own agents,
and pretending that they have deceived their
sovereign ; and the fate of Lin might be con-
sidered as sealed from the moment that warlike
PUBLIC DECLARATION. 265
measures were adopted; in which it was to
be hoped there might be no relaxation until
the ends were fully accomplished. In a Chi-
nese declaration, issued by the chief super-
intendent on the 26th of June, he observed,
*' How has the commissioner dared to degrade
the majesty of China and of England by these
insulting and violent proceedings towards an
English functionary, acknowledged by his
imperial majesty, and who has always respected
the laws of the empire, and faithfully per-
formed his public obligations? And which
would have been the most effectual means
of accomplishing the imperial pleasure — those
that Elliot had offered and was ready to adopt,
founded upon the separation of the innocent
from the offending, and accompanied by pre-
cautions and securities that would have given
permanent efficacy to such distinctions, — or
those of senseless violence, casting upon the
whole transaction the character of shameful
spoliation? The commissioner preferred a
career of needless and spoliatory constraint,
which has made the amplest reparation a duty
VOL. II. ^
266 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
of high obligation in the government of
England ; which has broken to pieces all sense
of confidence in the wisdom or justice of the
j>rovincial government; and had the eflfect of
immediately reviving the opium traffic at all
points of the coast in the utmost vigour." The
various other acts of the commissioner were
then detailed^ as the murder and mutilation
of several British subjects, or of Spaniards in
mistake for British; the expulsion of the
English from Macao; the poisoning of the
water, &c , &c.
The arrival of the first ship of the expedi^
tion, with the Madagascar, armed steamer,
evidently produced alarm at Canton. The
preparations, meanwhile, to resist us were of
the most ludicrous description. An old mer-
chantman, purchased from the Americans, was
painted blood-red all over to give her a terrible
appearance, and two small cutters of twenty-
five tons were decorated with imperial yellow.
Lin had hitherto spurned the idea of a blockade
being established by the English. In his
reply to a petition from the American mer-
BLOCKADE OP CANTON.
267
[ ehantB, " It is falsely stated (observed te) that
the English contemplate putting on a blockade,
and that they will not permit the ships of
any nation to come to China. Truly this
■ must be an audacious falsehood, or an egregious
K mistake. Try and reflect, that these are the
B«elestial dynasty's ports and harbours. How
Hfem England blockade you, ye Americans 1
America is not a nation tributary to England.*
How then can you listen to the said barbarians
prohibiting your ships from coming T' This
mystery of the law of nations was soon incul-
cated on the Chinese in a manner they certainly
did not expect ; though it was far short of
what it might have been.
On the 21st of June arrived the Wellesley,
■of-battle ship, bearing commodore Sir
BlGordon Bremer's broad pendant, accompanied
the greater part of the expedition. That
fficer lost no time in opening the campaign :
I on the 22nd a notice was issued that " a blockade
l_of the river and port of Canton by all its
' This ftiHy esplaioB the real
b to nations Bending tribute t
otion which the Chinese
their emperor.
268 SKETCHES OF CHINA,
entrances would be established on and after
the 28th of June.** At the same time, with a
view to the convenience of British and other
foreign ships resorting to the coast of China
in ignorance of the blockade^ it was declared
that the senior officer of the station had been
instructed to permit them to remain at any
anchorage in the neighbourhood of the port
which he might indicate from time to time.
Nothing could more strongly contrast the
principles of civilised and barbarous warfiue,
than the proclamations and acts of the Chinese
and British authorities respectively. It seemed
to be pretty generally credited that commis-
sioner Lin had authorised the experiment of
a boat-load of poisoned tea, packed in small
parcels, to be sold to the sailors. The boat
was captured by pirates, who unknowingly
sold the cargo to their own countrymen ; and
so many deaths followed the use of the
poisoned tea as to draw general attention to
the subject. Thus
" Even-handed justice
Retum'd th' ingredients of the poison'd chalice
To their own lips."
CHINESE PROCLAMATION. 269
This atrocity was accompanied by a pro-
clamation from the same authorities, offering
a scale of rewards for capturing or killing
English Bubjecta, and including in this pro-
scription all those Chinese who furnished
supplies to them. The same paper betrayed
the extreme weakness and folly of its authors
by declaring that, " whosoever should be able,
whether civil or military officers, soldiers, or
people, to take an English man-of-war carrying
eighty great guns, should receive the reward of
twenty thousand Spanish dollars." This
would be doing the thing cheap indeed ! Their
other notions of a man-of-war were no less
original, for the paper proceeded to say that,
" whatever the vessel contained besides the
great guns, weapons of war, and opium, which
must be given up to the mandarins, the addi-
tional articles, as clocks and watcbes, clothes,
goods or money, should be awarded to the
takers of the vessel ;" — thus finding it impossible
to disconnect them from the pursuits of trade.
I As* a contrast to the above, the British
uthorities on their part exhorted " the natives
I
270 SKETCHES OF CQINA.
of the land tx) pursue their ordinary occupations
in peace and security, in the assurance that no
violence would be oflFered to them or their
property, while they opposed none to the forces
of the queen of England. Let them, therefore,
bring their supplies and commodities to the
several stations of the British forces without
fear, in the certainty that they should receive
kind protection and just payment.** While
the blockade allowed no native or other vessel
to pass in or out of the port of Canton, fishing
craft were permitted to proceed without obstruc-
tion during the hours of daylight ; and the
native trading vessels of the cities and villages
on the coast were at liberty to resort for pur^
poses of mutual exchange to the stations of the
British shipping.
The naval force when collected consisted of
the Melville, Wellesley, and Blenheim, line-
of-battle ships, the Druid and Blonde, heavy
frigates, the Volage, Conway, Alligator, and
Herald, smaller frigates, with the Nimrod,
Modeste, Hyacinth, Lame, Pylades, Cruiser,
and Columbine, sloops of war, and the Algerine
ENGLISH FORCES.
271
brig. To these was added the important item
of four war steamers, the Queen, Atalanta,
Madagascar, and Enterprise, invaluable aids in
a part of the world where the monsoons blow
in the same direction for six months of the year,
and thus oppose obstacles all but insurmount-
able to sailing vessels. The land forces were
conveyed in about twenty transports, and con-
tasted of the 49th regiment, the 26th or Caniero-
nians, the 18th Royal Irish, a body of Sepoy
volunteers from Bengal, and a detachment of
sappers and miners from Madras. This was
a force more than adequate to any active oppo-
sition that could be made by the Chinese ; who,
on the other hand, were far more likely to
follow their usual plan of gaining time, and
attempting to disarm ub by pretences of nego-
.leiation.
On the arrival of commodore Bremer with
the first part of the expedition o£F Macao on
the 21st of June, that officer, without waiting
ifor the admiral, who did not reach China
until a week afterwards, proceeded to the
north-eastward with the transports and the
272 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
troops under brigadier Burrell's command.
The instructions from the governor-general of
India were to take possession of the Ghusan
group of Islands^ with its capital city Ting-hae,
ranking as a Hien or walled town of the thitd
order. The armament was just eight days on
the passage from Macao, and anchored in the
harbour of Ting-hae on the 4th of July. The
attack on, and capture of the town are detailed
in brigadier Burrell's despatch to lord Auckland,
of which it must be observed, that it displays
the practice of the utmost humanity and for-
bearance towards the Chinese.
When her Majesty's ships Wellesley, Con-
way, and Alligator entered the anchorage of
the harbour, they took up a position in front
of a hill to the right, upon which was a large
temple, or jos-house.* In the evening of the
same day a summons was sent to the Chinese
admiral, (who was also governor of the Chusan
group,) calling upon him to surrender the
island, and soliciting him to do so that blood
♦ See plan of Chusan harbour.
PLAN OF CHUSAN HARBOUH.
273
274 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
might not be shed in useless opposition. The
officers bearing the summons returned with
the Chinese admiral to the Wellesley, accom-
panied by two other mandarins ; and although
they acknowledged their incapacity to resist
they endeavoured by evasions and requests to
gain time, and left the ship without any satis-
factory conclusion, but perfectly understanding
that, if submission were not made before day-
light on the following day, hostilities must
commence.
The hill and adjacent shore were observed
on the morning of the 5th to be crowded with
a large body of troops, and from the mast-heads
of the ships the city was seen at less than a
mile distance from the beach, the walls also
lined with soldiers. On the temple hill, the
landing-place of the suburbs, and a round tower
adjoining, were mounted altogether twenty-
four guns of small calibre, varying from two
to six or eight pounders. Besides these, there
was a line of junks anchored along the shore,
mounting a considerable number of guns.
The wind and tide being against the trans-
ATTACK OF CHUSAN. 27fi '■
ports, and only three hundred and fifty men,
including marinesj as yet arrived in the harbour,
occasion was taken of the delay to reconnoitre
the beach beyond the temple hill, with a view
of landing at some distance from the batteries.
This, however, was abandoned, as if opposed
there the shipping must have opened their
fire on the different batteries, and the result
have been the same with respect to the loss of
life inflicted.
About 2 p. M. her Majesty's ships Cruiser
and Algerine got into position, and as th^
transports were then entering the harbour,
the signal was given for landing the troops in
rotation, as boats could be supplied. This was
to be eflfected in two divisions, of which the
first consisted of the 18th Royal Irish, the
Royal marines, and the 96th regiment, with
two nine pounders ; the second of the volunteer
corps and the 49th regiment, and a detach-
ment of sappers and miners. As soon as the
18th and Royal marines quitted the ships,
ihe waving of flags and beating of gongs gave
iurther intimation of the determination on the
276 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
part of the Chinese to resist. A gun was
therefore fired from the Wellesley, after the
first of the troops were in the boats, to test
the intentions of the enemy. The whole of the
guns on shore being manned, a return was
instantly given from them and the war junks;
and this brought a fire upon the batt^eries and
junks from all the ships of war. In a veiy
few minutes the suburbs and hill were evacuated,
and the junks abandoned by every individual
on board; the beach and wharf being thus
cleared, the troops landed without opposition.
Immediate possession was taken of the hill,
from which there is a very good view of the
city, at the distance of about fifteen hundred
yards, or less than a mile. Advanced posts
were pushed forward to within five hundred
yards of the walls of the city, which, although
in a dilapidated state, are sufficiently formidable
and difficult of access, as they are surrounded
on three sides with a deep moat of about five-
and-twenty feet wide, and an extensive tract
of inundated paddy land.
It was determined to breach the walls of the
ATTACK OF CHUSAN. 277
city near the south gate, and to throw shells
into the west angle ; so that in the event of
the guns being inadequate to effect a breach,
the angle, which was meant to be taken by
escalade, might be more easily carried from the
fire kept up on that point having weakened
the defence. When the advanced post took
up this position, a fire was opened upon them
from the walls of the city, and continued at
intervals until nearly midnight. A few shots
were fired from our battery, which tended to
silence them; and the Chinese fire had no other
effect than to prove an utter ignorance of
gunnery.
Early on the following morning the exer-
tions of lieutenant-colonel Montgomerie, com-
manding the artillery, had, in addition to the
two nine pounders landed with the troops, got
into position six other guns of the same calibre,
two howitzers, and two mortars, making a
total of ten pieces of ordnance within four
hundred yards of the walls. From the still-
ness of the town it was surmised that some
change had taken place, and accordingly no
278 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
orders for offensive operations were given until
daylight At the first dawn the flags were
seen on the walls as before, but with the
increase of light there did not appear a single
individual where thousands had been seen the
preceding evening. On passing the canal by
means of planks, (for the bridge had been
broken down,) the walls were scaled. One
or two Chinese who appeared on the parapet
offered no resistance, but hung a placard over,
which begged for mercy, and of course did not
appeal in vain. The gate, which was barricaded
with large sacks of grain, was soon opened,
and the British flag hoisted over it. The
loss on the side of the Chinese was not more
than twenty-five killed ; while in both the
sea and land attack not a single Englishman
was killed, and one seaman only slightly hurt.
The amount of guns captured was numer-
ically large, being little short of a hundred,
but the bulk of them were under sixrpounders.
The magazines contained an extensive supply
of iron shot, matchlocks, swords, bows and
arrows, with iron helmets and uniform cloth-
I
CAPTURE OF CHUSAN. 279
lag for a krge body of men. This last, from
BO little use having been inade of it, would
geem to be exclusively destined for show. The
easy cession of the city was said to have been
owing to a shot striking the Hien, or civil
governor, and killing him on the spot. After
the capture of the place sentries were posted
at every gate, and a fire which broke out in
the town was extinguished by the troops.
Though every protection was ofl'ered to the
Chinese who would return, their dread of their
own government, and of the Tartar law re-
garding " traitorous intercourse" was so great,
that very few came back to their deserted
abodes. The supplies of provisions accordingly
proved to be far from plentiful, with the ex-
ception of grain, of which a considerable
quantity was found in the town.
We may now take a short review of the
measures antecedent to the capture of Chusan,
before proceeding to narrate the events which
followed that operation. It had always been
anticipated, both at home and in China, that
the demolition of the forts at the Bogue would
280 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
liave preceded all other operations to the
northward. As those batteries are by £ur the
strongest defences that the Chinese possess,
and in fact the only things of the kind that
deserve the name, their total destruction and
disarmament would have been a primary blow,
well calculated to awe the Canton government.
That their escape greatly elated and gave
additional confidence to Ldn and his colleagues,
is proved by the proclamations and conduct of
those officers subsequent to the departure of
the expedition northward. The rewards for
the destruction of English vessels, and for
killing British subjects, were immediately pub-
lished all over the neighbourhood. Lin gave
orders to the Hong merchants, (very odd re-
cruiting officers, certainly,) to enlist men for
the defence of the country, two thousand to be
at the charge of that unhappy corporation,
two thousand at that of the salt merchants,
and one thousand at the expense of the Chin-
chew merchants.
The Consoo house was consequently filled
with expectant recruits, whose pay was to be
MANDARINS ELATED BY IMPUNITY.
281
eight dollars a montli. These hopeful soldiers
were to be sent out of the river in fishing
boats to attack the blockading ships, with a
promise of one hundred dollars for every
Englishman's head they brought back, and two
hundred to the families of such as should lose
their lives. " Lin," says one of the letters from
China, " has become very warlike and threaten-
ing since the English squadron passed by his
province, fearing now no attack upon his own.
It is much to be regretted that Canton* had
not first been demolished : it would have pro-
duced a great moral effect, and perhaps have
shortened the war and saved much bloodshed."
Lin's own expressions were these : — " It has
been discovered that lately English ships of
war have appeared off the coast, which, how-
ever, not daring to attack the government
forces, are merely there to protect the opium
smuggling trade." The inference was a very
natural one for the Chinese to draw, and it
might as well, perhaps, have been prevented.
• Rather, the Bugiie forts.
282 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Instead of attacking the enemy where they
had made some preparation, and indeed, where
there was the only respectable pretension to
defence, that is, the Bogue forts, they saw us
take an insular place on the coast by surprise.
The batteries at the Bogue contained only
mandarin soldiers, with perhaps, by this time,
as many as two hundred guns. None but
mandarin soldiers could therefore have been
sacrificed; and the capture or destruction of
such a quantity of their ordnance would have
been a fine lesson, while at the same time it
crippled them for the future. The offences,
which the expedition was intended to punish,
had all been committed by the Canton authori-
ties. The false confidence, acquired by im-
punity, was calculated to jeopardise the safety
of the English remaining at Macao ; and we
have since seen that one British subject was
there seized, and a regular preparation was
made to attack the rest, though happily frus-
trated by the promptitude and determination
of captain Smith's proceedings at the barrier.
The somewhat lax and indecisive nature of
THE BLOCKADE. 283
the blockade established near Canton was like-
wise canvassed, as being calculated to defeat
the ends of our hostile measures. Considerable
dissatisfaction has Ixjeu expressed by those on
the spot. Such junks as were captured laden
with salt were restored, but the cargo detained,
as the article is a government monopoly ; while
rice and other grain passed free, the Macao
passage being left open ! In our description of
the Canton river in chapter XVI., the probable
difficulties of a blockade to the westward of
Macao were surmised, on account of the num-
ber of inlets, and the shoalness of the water.
Still there was nothing insuperable ; and to
blockade Canton river by only one entrance,
while the principal food of the country was
allowed to pass free, does seem a little like
what the Chinese in their broken English call
"play business."
The observations of the Times were strong
upon this point. — " In the language of a certain
school it is worse than a crime. Even to the
most obtuse understanding it must appear a
folly, an egregious absurdity, since it directly
284 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
tends to defeat the only purpose for whicli a
blockade in any form can be conceived to have
been undertaken, and voluntarily to put into
the hands of the Chinese government the
means of defeating our most hostile demonstra^
tions. We perceive no such equivocal bearing
on the part of the Chinese towards the British.
They do not recognise any middle term between
peace and war. They do not understand such
a state of things as peace in war, or war in
peace, their hostility is outspoken and un-
compromising." — It certainly was of the most
virulent character. Honours, rewards, and
happiness, (declared Lin in one of his pro-
clamations,) will be the lot of him who kills
an Englishman. " Why," said that truly Chi-
nese functionary to the people, " will you con-
tinue poor and servile, when by one effort you
can become rich and honoured ? — for not only
the rewards now promised will be given, but
you may expect still greater favours at the hands
of the paternal imperial government."
Admiral Elliot, on reaching Macao at the
end of June, lost no time in receiving the
DISASTER OF THE MELVILLE. 285
chief superintendent, now plenipotentiary, on
board the Melville, and sailing to join the
expedition off Chusan, which he gained the
day after that place was taken. The difficulties
of so uncertain a navigation * were experienced
by the Melville, and that ship unfortunately
ran upon a sunken rock in the middle of a very
narrow channel leading into Chusan harbour.
The leak consequent upon this disaster proved
to be so bad, that it was found necessary to
discharge all her guns and stores, and heave
the ship down for repairs ; an operation that
could not be completed for some months.
In passing Amoy, on the 2nd of July, the
admiral stood in to that port, and sent H. M.
Blonde, commanded by captain Bourchier, with
a letter from the secretary of state to the
* The following note to the Admiralty chart may convey
some idea of the little correct knowledge hitherto possessed of
this neighbourhood : —
"The Jesuits, 1717, place Ting-hae in latitude 29'' 57'
Dalrymple, 1788 .... 30*^25'
Lord Macartney's voyage, 1793 . . 30** 25'
Horsburgh, 1836 . . . . 3(f W
The Sylph, (by reduction from Sinkamun,) 1833, 29^^ 59^'
286 SKETCHES OP CHINA.
Chinese minister at Peking, to be delivered to
the local authorities for transmission. Here
the wanton aggression of the Chinese military
on an unarmed boat led to their receiving a
severe and unexpected lesson. The most par-
ticular account of the aibix is given by Mr.
Thom, employed as Chinese interpreter on the
occasion.
That gentleman having been directed on the
2nd of July to repair with captain Bourchier
on board the Melville, a despatch was pro-
duced, which the captain was instructed to
convey to the Chinese admiral of the station,
or, supposing him to be absent, to the highest
local authority resident at Amoy, so as to secure
its reaching its ultimate destination. The
Blonde cast anchor off the port of Amoy about
mid-day, one mile distant from a battery built
for five guns, and which guarded the entrance
to the inner harbour. After having been at
anchor nearly an hour, a boat, resembling
those used by the Hong merchants on the
Canton river, came alongside bearing a red
flag. Within were five or six people of the
I
AFFAIR AT AMOY. 287
class of mandarins' servants or followers, who,
on reaching the deck, said they had been
despatched to inquire about the ship. They
were told that there was an important commu-
nication for the admiral of the station, and
that if he came on board he would be well
received; but that if he declined doing so,
no time should be lost in visiting him.
They stated in reply that the admiral was at
Chinchew, about forty miles off, and of course
recommended that the ship should go there.
On being asked who were the chief mandarins
of the district, they stated that the principal
civilian was a fuen-foo, or sub-governor, who
wore a light blue button, and the highest
military officer, a Choongying, with a crystal
button. It was therefore determined to deliver
the document to these two officers. Before
quitting the Melville, a paper had Ijeen pre-
pared in Chinese explaining the nature of a
flag of truce, and warning the mandarins
against the consequences of violating it. This
document was delivered open to the mandarins'
people, and in order to avoid all mistakes was
288 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
read to them at the capstan. They were re-
peatedly asked if they understood its meaning,
and always replied that they comprehended
perfectly that the white flag was to be held
sacred. These men accordingly went on shore,
and within an hour returned, accompanied
by another of better appearance and address,
who pulling out the document which the others
had taken, presented it, saying that the district
mandarins had taken a copy of it for their
superior officers, but, as they did not dare to
hold communication with foreigners, they
begged to return the original paper. On
being told that the captain was strictly bound
by his orders to send it on shore, and that he
could not receive it back, the messenger acqui-
esced.
Accordingly at 3 p. m. the second lieutenant
was sent on shore, accompanied by Mr. Thom
in the cutter, and the party pulled straight for
the beach in the vicinity of the fort. A white
flag was flying at the cutter s bow, and they
were quite unarmed. To their amazement,
instead of the peaceful reception anticipated.
HOSTILE CONDUCT OF THE CHINESE. 289
they found the beach lined by between two and
three hundred soldiers, with half a dozen man-
darins, who manifested the most unfriendly
disposition. The cutter s bow being run upon
the beach, the lieutenant and Mr. Thom went
forward, and pointing to the white flag, said
they had a letter for the admiral, and had come
in order to deliver it. The reply was, that
the admiral had gone to Chinchew, and that
if they dared to come on shore they should be
killed, or sent bound to F6-chow-foo, the
capital city. By way of supporting what they
said by deeds, their spear and matchlock-men
approached the water's edge until their wea-
pons were within a yard of the strangers, and
no other answer could be obtained from them
but "oflF, oflF!" to which were added sundry
imprecations and terms of abuse.
The boat accordingly pulled off again for
the frigate, and captain Bourchier, in the mean
while, having perceived the hostile reception
from the ship, sent the third lieutenant with
an armed boat's crew to take possession of a
large junk which was just leaving the port.
VOL. II. O
290 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
Having anchored her under the stem of the
Blonde, the captain was brought on board, pre*
senting a written paper to say, that he was
only a trader bound for Ghinchew, and did
not know for what reason he was detained.
It was explained that he would be required
only to carry a letter on shore for the man-
darins, and that the moment he returned with
an answer his junk should be restored to him.
A paper was then addressed to the mandarins,
stating that when a flag of truce was sent to
deliver a despatch, it had been repulsed with
threats and violence, and it was determined in
consequence to seize their junks and stop their
trade until they should consent to receive it
No reply was ever brought to this note, and
the junk slipped away just before daylight on
the following morning. It seems unfortunate
that a guard of a few men had not been placed
on board the junk. They would have prevented
this escape, and the object of delivering the
letter might not have been frustrated so easily.
Early on Friday morning sail was hoisted
on the frigate^ that she might stand in-shore.
WARLIKE PEEPABATIONS.
with a view to make another attempt to deliver
the despatch under cover of the ship's guns.
The weather being dead calm, they did not
weigh until 11 A. M., but by noon were an-
chored close to the shore, the Chinese battery
bearing ofi" the larboard quarter, distant about
five hundred yards. A notice in large Chinese
characters had been prepared on a piece of white
cotton cloth, explanatory of the objects of the
Blonde's visit, and declaring that their objects
must be accomplished. The little jolly-boat
was again sent on shore with five men and
boys entirely unarmed, having this notice hung
out so as to be legible at a distance, and the
white flag displayed as before.
The mandarins had been busy all day in
warlike preparations. They had formed an en-
campment at the beach, and had placed five
guns, level with the water's edge, a little to
the eastward of the casemate battery* at the
entrance of the inner harbour. Some of the
larger junks were brought down and armed,
I * One with a roof and parapet above the embraaurea.
I o2
292 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
while a number of smaller ones were filled
with troops, and placed in the vicinity of the
Blonde, as if with the intention of boarding.
The frigate was anchored within four hundred
yards, with springs upon her cable, upon the
angle of the battery, so as to command it and
the junks at the same time. On the jolly-boat
being backed in stern foremost to the beach
with Mr. Thom as spokesman, the mandarins
and troops were drawn up as before, with a
crowd of idle spectators. The interpreter sat
over the boat's stern, holding out the notice,
and requesting the mandarins to peruse it.
They replied with nothing but threats and
imprecations, making the usual sign of cutting
oflf the head ; while their fury seemed to be
aggravated by the notice being legible to the
surrounding crowd.
The boat was now close to the beach, and
some of the Chinese soldiers were observed
wading into the water to seize upon her. The
men were told to pull a stroke or two, and
when eight or ten yards off, Mr. Thom stood
up and asked them, " for the last time, if they
ATTACK ON UNARMED BOAT. 293
would receive the letter or not?" " No! "was
the unanimous shout of the whole assembly ;
and, as if enraged at the escape of the boat, a
number of shot and arrows were aimed at her.
Fortunately for Mr. Thom, he fell suddenly
with the motion as the boat sprang to the
men's oars, for at that instant an arrow struck
the seat he had quitted with such force as to
shiver its head to pieces ; while a matchlock
ball hit the boat's stern a couple of inches from
the coxswain.
Some guns at the same time were fired at
the ship, and the Chinese were seen preparing
for a general discharge, which would probably
have killed those in the jolly-boat, when a
couple of shot from the Blonde told with such
fatal eflFect upon the dense masses on the beach,
that they instantly fled for their lives, leaving
ten or a dozen dead behind them. The guns
in the ship were brought to bear upon the fort
and junks, and these were battered until the for-
mer was beaten in and unroofed, and the latter
disappeared with the exception of one, whose
crew having abandoned her, an officer was sent
294 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
tx> throw her armament into the sea and set
her on fire. During the whole of this affiiir
the neighbouring hills were covered with
spectators* and the inner harbour with trading
vessels^ which remained entirely unmolested.
Everything on this occasion appears to have
been conducted in the best possible manner, if
we admit that the adoption of ''a flag of truce*"
was the most advisable procedure wi£h a people
like the Chinese, who not only do not under-
stand, but mill not acknowledge these conven-
tional modes of European nations. As it was,
the Blonde sailed away without effecting her
object, after having killed a considerable num-
ber of the natives. Had she anchored at once in
front of the city, and sent a strong armed body
on shore to say, that unless the letter was
received she would batter down the town, the
end would probably have been gained. Be-
ginning with an unarmed boat, and with what
they call in Ashantee *' a palaver," the Chinese
were emboldened and tempted to adopt the
plan of resistance, and in fact succeeded, after
all, in preventing communication, though at
FLAG OF TRUCE. 295
the expense of losing many of their people,
whose fate would be represented to the emperor
as a gallant and successful devotion to his ser-
vice. Mr. Thom had a narrow escape with
his life, and deserved the highest credit for
volunteering his services at such great personal
risk ; but every one perhaps will not agree
with him in thinking that " the quarrel having
originated concerning a white flag, this will
be recognised all over the empire as the foreign
emblem of peace J* *' Laissez nous, done, nous
quereller en paix!" — says somebody in Moli^re.
White is to the Chinese the emblem of
death and mourning, and viewed by them as
the type of all that is unlucky and ill-
omened;* a superstition which the results of
the unfortunate flag of truce were but too well
calculated to confirm. The best peace-maker
with them is an overwhelming force, and as
few words as possible. With this they will
respect anj/ flag, and without it none. Above
all, we should give up obtruding upon them
our conventional forms of Europe, which by
* ^ Chinese,' third edition, p. 174, note.
296 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
a strange fatality are almost invariably the
very opposite of their own, and which accord-
ingly they make it a point of honour to resist.
In this sense we may almost turn upon them
their own rule of intercourse : — " ITie barba-
rians are like the brutes, and not to be dealt
with on the same principles as Chinese. Were
any one to attempt controlling them by the
great maxims of (Chinese) reason, it would
lead to nothing but confusion.**
Another trial was made further north to
land one of the letters for the minister of the
emperor; and on the 10th July the Blonde,
Conway, Cruizer, Algerine, and Queen steamer
were despatched with Captain Elliot to Ningpo,
the admiral proceeding himself on the 13th
in the Atalanta steamer. The vigorous pro-
ceedings at Chusan, in the immediate neigh-
bourhood, had certainly awed the Ningpo
authorities ; they had probably learned the
consequences of the opposition at Amoy a
week before; and the imposing force of six
vessels, which now threatened their city, was
an additional argument for being civil. The
LETTER REFUSED AT NINGPO. 297
admiral stated in his despatches home, that
in "the correspondence which took place the
style was totally diflTerent from what was ever
known before, claiming no mark of superiority
whatever, but treating us perfectly as equals;
no longer calling us barbarians, but honorable
officers of the English nation.*** However,
they declined forwarding the letter, on the
ground of its being contrary to their customs
(which subsequent events at the Peiho proved
to be false) ; but it was supposed that as they
had an open Chinese copy of it in their hands
for twenty-four hours, there could be no doubt
of the Court of Peking being made acquainted
with it. Having given notice that the ports
would be closed, the admiral quitted the river
on the 15th July, and the blockade commenced.
The alarm was evidently great; junks were
sunk at the mouth of the river, and additions
made to the batteries ; all which showed a
determination to resist.
In the mean while, the return of the inha-
* Yet, in the late edict from the emperor at Peking, the
old terms of abuse and insolence are again as bad as ever !
298 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
bitants to the deserted capital of Chusan was
found to be extremely slow, though everjrthing
was done to produce confidence, and to protect
them in their peaceful occupations. Some sup-
plies were at length brought to market of
vegetables, pigs, and poultry ; and the love of
money, it was hoped, would influence the in-
habitants of the country in producing more.
To the latest date, however, there is a general
complaint of the dearth of supplies. A public
declaration was issued, giving to the natives
the benefit of their own laws, customs, and
usages, every species of torture excepted ; and
they were declared liable only to such taxes
and impositions as they had paid under the
Emperor of China. The civil, fiscal, and judi-
cial government of Chusan and its dependencies
was vested in the military commandant, to be
exercised by him, or under his warrant. There
can be no doubt of the Chinese, upon trial,
finding the British government infinitely
milder and affording better security to person
and property than that of their own man-
darins; but, were the islands to be restored
HOSTILITIES AT MACAO. 299
to the emperor, those of the inhabitants who
had placed themselves under British protec-
tion would suflfer cruelly Crom the Tartar law
concerning "traitorous intercourse with fo-
reigners ;* and some security for the safety of
these poor people would be the first duty of
our government, whenever the Chusan group
returned to its former masters. Their terror
of the consequences of such intercourse fully
accounts for the desertion of Tinghae on its
capture.
While the transactions above noted were
passing on the north-east coasts our country-
men in the neighbourhood of Canton began
to feel the eflfects of the impunity with which
Governor Lin had flattered himself, as well
as of the ridiculous "neutrality" of Macao —
a place where the Chinese levied open war
upon British subjects. The inner harbour
had for months been filled with war-junks,
and the streets thronged with Governor Lin's
soldiers. They had been allowed to pitch
tents and mount guns on the Portuguese side
of the barrier, — if the name of Portuguese can
300 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
be allowed tx> any part of Macao since wliat
has occurred. The avowed object of £hese
hostile preparations was to drive away the
British, or to put into effect the exhortations
of Lin, and seize their persons or murder them
for reward.
An atrocious case of seizure at length oc-
curred. On the 6th of August, Mr. Stanton,
a young man who seems to have gone to China
with the intention of devoting himself to a
missionary life, was suddenly missed by his
friends at Macao. He was in the habit of
proceeding very early in the morning to bathe
at a sandy and retired bay, well known by the
name of Casilha, about a mile or less on the
outside of the town, towards the Chinese bar-
rier. In a few days it was learned, that while
going down to the beach he had been surprised
by a gang of Chinese concealed behind some
rocks, who wounded, seized, and conveyed him
to a boat waiting in readiness, on board of
which he was hurried up towards Canton. In
the course of the same day he was seen by some
natives near the Bogue, his person and clothes
MR. STANTON SEIZED AT MACAO. 301
bloody, and his hands tied behind him. On
the 9th he reached Canton, and was examined
r
before governor Lin, previously to being put
into prison. The real " barbarians" forced him
to kneel, in his weak state, during the process
of questioning ; but the information which,
nothing daunted by his situation, he seems to
have given, must have proved far from agree-
able to the auditory. He told them of what
they pretended, at least, to be ignorant — that
there were plenty more of his countrymen at
Macao ; and that his liberation would be the
first care of the senior officer of the English
squadron.
Such was the event. The mandarins of
Macao at first pretended ignorance of all the
circumstances, and then said that they would
apply for Mr. Stanton's liberation. Embold-
ened at length to attempt more summary mea-
sures of violence against the resident English,
Governor Lin sent down the Taou-tae with
troops to drive them out of Macao, or seize
upon their persons. Additions were made to
the fortifications at the barrier, and to the
302 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
numbers of the garrison there ; and eight war-
junks^ which had long been anchored opposite
to the town of Macao^ were stationed in a line
near the barrier wall, close to the inner shore
of the sandy isthmus, which is there very
narrow.
Captain Smith having in vain applied for
the liberation of the captive, and clearly per-
ceiving the further intentions of the Chinese,
very wisely determined tx> be beforehand with
them. On the 18th of August the Enterprise
steamer arrived off Macao, in company with
Her Majesty's ship Druid, and towing a trans-
port in which was a corps of Bengal volun-
teers. On the morning of the 19th the Hy-
acinth and Larne got under way, and stood
towards, the bay in which the barrier is situ-
ated :* the volunteers were embarked on board
the steamer ; while nine boats filled with mar
rines and seamen left the Druid (unable from
her size to attempt the shoal water), and fol-
lowed in the wake of the other ships. The
weather was favourable, a light southerly wind
* See Plan.
304 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
enabling the ships very soon to take up a
favourable position right in front of the bar-
rier and Chinese fortification, at a distance of
five or six hundred yards.
When the Hyacinth began the cannonade
at half-past one, it was answered by the Chinese
from their breastwork, consisting of piles of
sandbags, filled from the beach, the foundation
of each pile about nine yards square, on which
the shot had little efiect. They had altogether
twenty-four guns mounted, fifteen of which
were pointed to the ships; but their fire was
silenced by the Hyacinth and Lame, after only
three broadsides. The eight junks before men-
tioned had their hulls nearly hidden by the
isthmus which intervened; and at the jos-
house, on the Portuguese side of the barrier,
were several guns from which a brisk fire was
kept up on the ships. It was observed that
these guns carried further than those from the
junks, many of which fell short. The ships
received no injury, though a few shot passed
through the awning and sails of the Hyacinth.
When the engagement had commenced, the
ENGAGEMENl^^AT THE BARRIER. 305
garrison at the jos-house was re-inforced by
about three hundred Chinese soldiers, who
marched out to it from the '* neutral" town of
Macao ! It is calculated that there must al-
together have been about two thousand Chi-
nese soldiers on the spot, of whom a consider-
able proportion were armed with matchlocks.
The fire from the ships was at length only
faintly answered by the junks, but with more
spirit from the jos-house, which had been
spared, as being on the Portuguese side of the
barrier, though Chinese property. Parties of
soldiers were seen running between the barrier
and jos-house, occasionally creeping along on
all-fours to avoid the shot, and sometimes re-
moving a dead or wounded comrade. In about
an hour after the commencement of the fire,
the English troops began to land on the beach
at some distance from, and on the Chinese side
of the fortification. Some Chinese soldiers,
favored by the rising ground, crept and fired
upon the parties landing ; but a field-piece was
brought on shore, and a sharp fire was kept up
on the Chinese encampment^ on the junks, and
306 8KETCHE8 OF CHINA.
at last on the jos-house» which until now had
been spared by Captain Smith's orders. Parties
of soldiers were presently seen flying out of it,
as well as from some mat sheds hard hj, and
running back to Macao.
All the troops being landed soon after four,
and mustering together about three hundred and
eighty marines, sepoys^ and seamen^ under the
command of Captain M ee of the Bengal volun-
teers, they marched upon the fort, which was
found deserted ; but a fire, when already there,
was opened upon them from the junks and the
jos-house, and soon silenced by the musketry
of the volunteers. Two of the guns in the
fort (as large and heavy as thirty-two pounders,
though bored for only eighteens,) were found
disabled, their carriages being splintered or
broken to pieces by shot. These and all the
other guns were spiked, and everything else
destroyed or burned. The Chinese encamp-
ment was next burned ; but the junks, several
of which were much injured by shot, unfor-
tunately escaped destruction, for as they were
on the other side of the isthmus, there were no
CHINESE BEATEN. 307
boats by which to get at them. It is to be re-
gretted that the jos-house, from which the
liveliest fire had been directed against our
people, altogether escaped destruction, much to
the disappointment of the exasperated assailants,
and it may be hoped that this will be the last
pretence of " neutrality."
The English party had none killed, but four
badly wounded, two of them by the explosion
of a powder magazine in the captured fort.
The Chinese seem to have concealed their loss,
but it must have been considerable. Their
soldiers threw the blame of their flight on the
cowardice of the officers, who they said were
the first to run away. The Taoutae disap-
peared after the fight, and the Tsotslng, or resi-
dent magistrate of Macao, also left that place,
the population of which remained very quiet,
although many families of Chinese began to
remove. The provincial government had now
received a wholesome lesson, and were not
likely very soon again to attempt measures of
violence against the English residents. Their
308 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
only possible course, after the failure of active
hostilities, was the old and favourite one of
starving the town, and driving away the na-
tive inhabitants.
To ascertain the effect of the various strong
remedies applied, as already detailed, at the
extremities of the empire, a portion of the
squadron with the plenipotentiaries on board
proceeded to the entrance of the Peiho to feel
the pulse of the imperial patient. It must be
observed that the Macao affair, last mentioned,
occurred while they were lying off that place,
and must have reached Peking before their de-
parture from the neighbourhood. An imposing
force, consisting of the Wellesley, Blonde,
Modeste, Volage, Pylades, and Madagascar
steamer, anchored on the 9th August off Takoo,
being the anniversary of the day on which the
last embassy landed there. Captain Elliot en-
tered the river in the steamer, accompanied by
the boats of all the ships manned and armed ;
and with this proper convoy the flag of truce
ran no risk whatever of being fired upon. The
ADMIRAL VISITS THE PEIHO. 309
shore* was crowded with spectators, astonished
at the appearance of the steamer. A boat
pushed off from the fort, and received a written
communication to be forwarded to Peking ; an
answer to be returned in six days, the distance
being one hundred miles by land. A reply
arrived on the day appointed, to the effect that
the emperor required ten days to consider the
subject.
This being acceded to, the squadron touched
at different points in the neighbourhood to pro-
cure bullocks and other supplies, in which they
appear to have succeeded. The admiral took
advantage of the delay to visit the extremity of
the great wall at Shankae kwdn, where it passes
down into the sea to the distance of half-a-mile,
and is terminated by a high tower. As if in
mockery of all natural obstacles, this gigantic
barrier, between twenty and thirty feet in
height, and twenty feet broad, displays itself,
as far as the eye can reach, traversing the very
tops of the mountains, some of them computed
* One account mentions the hills ; but there is not a hill
between the sea and Peking.
810 SKETCHES OP CHINA.
at three thousand feet above the sea's level, and
those farther inland much higher. The em-
peror can certainly boast a magnificent park
wall, bounding many hundred miles of his here-
ditary estate.
On the 27th August, which was the day ap-
pointed, the squadron returned to its anchor-
age, when the document from Peking was sent
oflF to the ships ; and on the 30th an interview
took place between Captain EUiot and the im-
perial commissioner, Ke^shen* From that
time until the middle of September, when the
squadron took its departure southward for
Ghusan, a lengthened negotiation was carried
on, of which nothing official transpired by the
overland mail which reached London on the
6th January. The first impression produced
by private accounts (which were almost en-
tirely conjectural) was of the most exhilarating
kind — nothing less than the near and satisfac-
* Ke-shen is a Manchow Tartar, of the yellow standard,
who a few years since was Governor of Pechely province.
His rank is sufficiently high, without calling him the third
man in the empire, as some of the accounts do.
admiral's visit to the peiho. 311
tory settlement of every difficulty. It was re-
ported that the emperor had agreed to pay
three millions sterling as indemnity ; that he
disavowed the acts of Commissioner Lin, and
oflFered to surrender him into the hands of the
British, to be dealt with as they might think
proper. The island of Lantao^ just opposite
to Macao on the east, was said to be offered in
exchange for Chusan, and two commissioners
were to be sent to the south in order to nego-
tiate a treaty. The most probable part of the
news, and the most consistent with the charac-
ter of the Chinese government, was a hint con-
veyed by the imperial commissioner, " that the
admiral's visit had prevented the march of
fierce soldiers to retake the island of Chusan."
This visit was in fact eagerly seized by the
Peking court as an occasion to be improved to
the utmost, under the circumstances. In the
absence of all official intelligence, one of the
private letters stated that the Chinese papers
" were couched in very civil language, con-
taining none of the offensive epithets so freely
applied to Europeans on former occasions."
312 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
This might be the case ; but an imperial edict
dated the 17th September, issued after the
conferences at the Peiho, and received at Can-
ton on the 4th October, never was and never
can be surpassed in the insolence and abusive-
ness of its language! It states that " the
English barbarians had presented a respectful
and obedient document of complaint craving
imperial favour and kindness ; that they ought
to have been exterminated for their previous
disobedient and disorderly conduct; but the
seaport town having attacked them and crushed
their daring spirit, and the said foreigners
having desired favour, the causes of what had
passed must be searched to the bottom."
The fact seems to have been, that the em-
peror felt rather uncomfortable in the near
neighbourhood of such unwelcome visitors as
the admiral and his squadron. All possible
means were to be used in order to remove
him to the southward; which object being
accomplished, the course of the monsoons
would secure his absence for another year, or
at least . eight months. The arrival of the
RETURN FROM THE PEIHO. 313
squadron^ with a pacific address, afforded the
Peking government a pretext to save its in-
jured dignity, by construing and representing
it to the Chinese nation as a suing for pardon
after late indiscretions on the coast; and so
it is made out in the edict above quoted.
What sincerity or good faith, it may be asked,
can be expected from a government of this
kind ; or what concessions except such as may
be extorted by the guns of the squadron after
they have reached Canton ? With such power-
ful arguments as these, well directed, we may
still hope for some contradiction of the ill-
omened dictum of the Times — " that the great
opium war against China has produced no
results at all — not a shilling of indemnity —
not an approach to a treaty — not even a pro-
mise to negociate with the least reliance," —
to which may be added the epigrammatic com-
ment of the same authority, " that everything
which had been attempted had succeeded, and
yet nothing had been accomplished."
The squadron reached Chusan on its return
from the Peiho on the 28th September ; and
VOL. II. ^
314 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
two store-ships which had accompanied it
brought great relief to the force there sta-
tioned, in a supply of bullocks and sheep, as
fresh meat had been almost entirely debarred
to them since the capture of the place, with a
general dearth of most other provisions. The
great sickness and mortality which now pre-
vailed among the troops were probably the
consequences of their being encamped, at the
autumnal season, on the outside of the town,
in the immediate neighbourhood of extensive
rice swamps, which skirt the vicinity of the
walls. This cause, joined to inactivity and
a dearth of provisions,* and samshoo secretly
supplied, would seem fully adequate to the
effect, without attributing to the island of
Chusan any peculiar degree of unhealthiness.
On the admiral's arrival the most effectual
remedy was adopted, that of removing the
troops into the unoccupied houses of the city.
Meanwhile the Chinese had gained an im-
* It has never been once hinted that the Chinese played
any sinister tricks with the provisions; and if they had,
the truth could scarcely have escaped the medical staff.
CHINESE MAKE NUMEROUS PRISONERS. 315
portant advantage, calculated to give them ela-
tion and confidence, and not unlikely to be
abused by them to sinister ends, in the capture
of about twenty prisoners from the brig Kite,
which had been sent to survey the mouth of
the Yang-tse Keang, and got aground there.
Captain Anstruther, an officer of the Madras
artillery, had likewise fallen into the hands of
a concealed party, while he was out sketching
in the neighbourhood of Tsinghae, and was
carried off to Ningpo. The Chinese were thus
hovering in a furtive manner within our own
precincts, ready to perpetrate by treachery what
they dared not attempt to accomplish by force.
The fate of these several prisoners (with the
addition of the captive at Canton) could not fail
to weigh with some pressure upon the minds of
the British plenipotentiaries. It was learned,
however, that for the present they were kindly
treated at Ningpo, and offered in exchange
for Chusan. Whatever may be the nature
of the negociations, the Chinese will consider
these prisoners as their trump cards, and play
them accordingly.
316 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
The cardinal and indispensable points to be
gained from the Chinese may be comprised
under a few heads. First, then, the safe sur-
render of the said prisoners, which, in all pro-
bability, will only be obtained by making the
bombardment of Canton the alternative. Se-
condly, considering the degradation of Lin as
a matter of course,* some indemnity for the
consequences of his acts. Thirdly, the resti-
tution of the trade under circumstances of se-
curity to person and property, both of them so
outraged by the Chinese commissioner. Under
this head must be comprised some provision for
cases of accidental homicide ; and the difficult
subject of the opium trade.f Fourthly, the
recognition of the national character of the
British representative, and the disuse of the
* In the Mabomedan Tartar war, the Chinese functionary,
whose acts had given rise to it, was degraded according to
custom ; but the unfortunate Jehanghir Khajah, being en-
ticed by false promises to trust himself in the power of the
Chinese, was conveyed to Peking, and there tortured to
death.
t Which however would cease altogether to be difficult,
could the emperor be induced to adopt the suggestion of his
minister in 1836, and legalise it with a fixed duty.
PROSPECTS OF NEGOCIATION.
317
offensive language in which the Canton officers
I have been accustomed to indulge. Without these,
any treaty would be a lame and impotent con-
clusioDj and leave us just where we were before.
There are other points whose concession, it
cannot be denied, would l>e of high value and
importance to the foreign tmde; but they are
less absolutely necessary to its mere safe ex-
istence than the foregoing, and would be more
strenuously resisted. These are, admission to
the northern ports for purposes of trade ; the
abolition of the monopoly of Hong merchants,
who can now no longer be opposed by the East
India Company ; a tariff of regulated duties on
exports and imports ; and the residence of an
agent of the crown at Peking. The cession of
an island is the very last point that would
ever be yielded by the court of Peking, as
the capture of one has been that which most
annoyed it. The temporary occupation of such
an island as a means of compulsion is excel-
lent ; but the permanent possession of any Ba-
rataria of the kind could not be easily proved
■ to be otherwise than an embarrassment, if the
318 SKETCHES OF CHINA
power of the Chinese government can so effectu-
ally prevail over its subjects, to leave us "alone
in our glory,** as experience has proved at
Chusan.
A general feeling of disappointment and de-
spondency was the result of the adjournment oi
the discussions to Canton, followed by the fruit-
less expedition to Ningpo in behalf of the pri-
soners. There was nothing peculiarly encou-
raging even in the speech of the 26th of
January on opening Parliament, for if the
Chinese government could ever have been ex-
pected, " from its own sense of justice,*' to bring
these matters to a speedy and amicable settle-
ment, what, it may be asked. Had twenty
ships of war and four steamers to do in China ?
And what have they done beyond the capture
of Chusan, to accomplish which a tenth part
of the force would have amply sufficed ?*
A hope still remains that the concentration
* By far the most striking exhibition of relative power
and weakness occurred, long before the arrival of the expe-
dition, in the pitched battle between the Chinese admiral's
squadron, of twenty-nine war-junks, and the Volage and
Hyacinth.
FURTHER OPERATIONS NECESSARY. 319
of a large naval force in the Canton river may
lead to such stringent measures as shall effect-
ually bring down Chinese arrogance, and put
an end to the temporising contrivances and
lingering pretexts of that utterly weak, but
most cunning and perfidious government.
One season of operations on the coast is at an
end, and the only chance of preventing the
necessity for another seems to lie in placing
Canton at the mercy of the British squadron.
The delay of every month, with the sickness
of the troops, and the capture of prisoners, is
calculated to inspirit the Chinese, whom it
certainly cannot be estimating too highly if
we compare them to the Mexicans who opposed
the Spaniards in the sixteenth century ; yet
even they took courage to resist, when they
found at last that their European enemies
were subject to the casualties of sickness and
death.
It may fairly be doubted if any treaty is
likely to be of the least avail to secure our
trade from future annoyance in the Canton
S20 SB^TCHES OF CHINA.
river^ should the batteries at the Bogue escape
demolition. A lesson of that kind could never
be dissembled nor forgotten^ and as it is quite
clear that no persuasion except that of force has
the least chance of prevailing, there seems to
be no theatre for its exercise preferable to the
point where the Chinese consider themselves
strongest When everything has been gained
that an armed negociation can give, it must all
be guaranteed by something more substantial
than words, or even paper documents. The
Chinese pretension to universal sovereignty is
not altogether unlike the Romish claim of a
cognate kind in spiritual matters ; and as the
one dispenses with the observance of good
faith towards " heretics," so the other rejoices
in the same convenient latitude towards
"barbarians," It is plain, therefore, that
a respectable naval force will in future be
always required on the Chinese coast; added
to a well-founded conviction, on the part
of the Peking court, that the renewed mis-
conduct of its provincial functionaries will
FURTHER OPERATIONS NECESSARY. 321
be followed by trouble and involvement to
itself.
If a second campaign to the north-eastward
(as now appears all but inevitable) should be
undertaken in the summer of 1841, the cruise
of the Conway and Algerine has established
the most important fact, that the great Keang
is navigable forty miles inwards from its mouth,
and that a clear channel exists for vessels of
any size, with a depth of five or six fathoms
water. Whenever it shall be found necessary
or expedient to " make war" on the Chinese
government, in the sense which that term
bears everywhere else, nothing can at once
so severely distress and perplex it as the
blockade of the grand canal at Kwa-chow ;
but this, to be completely effective, must com-
mence before the grain and tribute junks begin
their departure for the northward, in the month
of May, or perhaps earlier. When it is con-
sidered that the food and clothing of Peking,
the rice and tea, the silk and cotton, proceed
almost entirely from the south of the great
322 SKETCHES OF CHINA.
river, by what may really be called the aliment-
art/ canal of the empire, it is impossible not
to acknowledge the importance of this point.
80 vulnerable to our steamers and ships of war
and at the same time so vital to the Chinese.
THE END.
<?..■'•
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